Sollen Wir Tanzen?
by FeliksLukasiewicz00
Summary: Young Roderich Edelstein's parents were killed when he was only eleven years old, and he now lives with his uncle. Older now, his uncle arranged for him to be married to Elizabeva Héderváry. Although complete opposites, they make a wonderful life together. But when Roderich's nightmares become true, what will their future together hold? Rated M for violence and swearing
1. That Scream

Chapter 1

That Scream

_Roderich woke up to the sound of a high-pitched scream that echoed in his large house. Roderich's eyes were fixed on the dark ceiling of his room. He swallowed hard. Roderich begged that the scream was from a nightmare instead of from reality. But another scream soon followed. Roderich sat up in bed and choked back his own yell of terror as a gunshot echoed through the night. Then he heard his fathers voice._

"_Rod, run! The window!"_

_Roderich snapped his head over to the window and stared._

"_The wind-" His father's voice was cut off by a gunshot which was followed by silence. An unfamiliar man's voice soon followed._

_"Oh, Rod! Roddy, Roddy, Rod!"_

_Roderich ran to his desk and pushed his chair beneath his door handle; he picked up the heaviest book he found and chucked it at the window, shattering the glass. He ran. He jumped. Roderich landed on the top of the car sitting in the driveway, snow falling on of his dark brown hair. Roderich screamed as he felt horrible pain move up and down his leg, then he looked at his ankle._ My ankle isn't supposed to bend that way… _Roderich thought. He shook his head. He looked up into his window right as a figure appeared. _Dad? _Roderich thought. In response, he saw a small handgun glow just enough in the moonlight to tell that it was pointed at him. Roderich threw himself off the car and onto the snowy ground as the handgun shot another bullet into the night._

_Roderich's young purple eyes were filled with fear as he called out "HELP!" then he went sprinting._

_Adrenaline must have taken over, for he could no longer feel the pain in his twisted ankle. The young Austrian boy_

_pounded on the neighbor's door._

_The neighbor swung the door open, and also held a gun in his hand. "Roderich, get in here!" The older Italian man ordered._

_"W-what?"_

"_If you want to live, then get in here!" The Italian screamed. "Lovino!" he added, "You and Feliciano get yourselves and Roderich to safety!"_

"_Sì Grampa Ruggero!" both young Italian boys called out._

_Roderich heard the sounds of a small shootout between the murderer and Grampa Ruggero, then he heard sirens. He heard the sounds of police, and angry ones at that. Ruggero finally walked downstairs, calmly, no longer a gun in his hand. Ruggero explained that the police found both Roderich's mother and father dead. Roderich uncontrollably sobbed into Ruggero's shirt. "T-thank you, though, f-for saving my life" Roderich managed to say. But another gunshot split the night, and a scream came from Lovino, who was upstairs. Policemen were yelling at another attacker. When Roderich and Ruggero reached the upstairs, one policeman was dead, and Lovino was crawling on his hands and knees, blood trailing from his right hip. The second murderer turned his gun towards Roderich, and aimed directly at his face. The attacker pulled the trigger._

Roderich sat up in bed with a scream. He was panting, shaking and sweating. This happened ten years ago. Why couldn't he forget it? Why did this nightmare of a memory seem to haunt him every night? Roderich rubbed the scar on the left side of his face. The attacker had missed his face by only millimeters, but still left a scar. Roderich heard a quiet knock at his door.

"Yes?" He replied, but his voice was barely audible.

His uncle opened the door slowly. "Same dream?" Roderich could only nod his head. "I'm sorry," his uncle whispered then closed the door, for uncle Geron knew that he couldn't help. Roderich laid back down and tried to fall back asleep.


	2. Here She Comes

Chapter 2

Here She Comes

Roderich stood in front of the mirror, continuously adjusting with his black rimmed glasses. His hands were shaking, and his forehead was lined with a small layer of sweat, he was terrified. He was twenty one years old, and his uncle, Geron, arranged a marriage for him.

"You're going to get smelly if you keep sweating like that," Roderich heard from his cousin. He would have known that it was his cousin, Gilbert, even if he didn't see his reflection in the mirror.

"Why is your only goal in life to torment me?" Roderich said with a distressed sigh.

"Because I am Gilbert, and that's just my purpose in life… To stress you out on your wedding night." Gilbert replied with a teasing laugh. Roderich just sighed, again, adjusted his glasses, again, and adjusted the purple Hungarian Crocus in his front chest pocket... again.

"Why are you so stressed? Calm down," Gilbert instructed.

Roderich gave Gilbert an angry glare out of the corner of his eye, "Calm down? The only thing I know about this woman, that I have never met, is that she's a, a jock! She's better than anyone at any physical activity! And what am I? A musician. A pianist. A composer. A gentlemen."

"Sounds to me that you need to get more active, and she needs to become a lady," Gilbert sarcastically explained.

Roderich just looked at the ground. He turned towards Gilbert, smiled, and wrapped him in a warm hug. "Thank you for being here, _Vetter_." At that, Gilbert's little brother, Ludwig, walked into the room.

"You look very handsome, Roderich," Ludwig complemented in his deep voice.

"Thank you, so do you, Ludwig" Roderich replied with a slight tilt of his head and a small smile on his lips.

The door flew wide open right as Roderich heard a high pitched screech, "Roderich!" Roderich was wrapped in a hug and squeezed to where he could not breathe by Feliciano.

"Hello Feliciano, how are you?" Roderich grunted.

"Very good, very good! What about you?"

"Nervous. Stressed. Terrified. Take your pick."

"Don't think like that, Rod, I know you two will be great for each other! You'll kiss at the wedding, fall in love, have kids, and live happily ever after!"

"W-what? K-kids…?" Roderich had never thought that far into his future until now. His eyes widened in both terror and bliss. Roderich shook his head, "Now, Feli, don't go planning my future for me, I haven't even met-"

"That doesn't matter! You will see her and fall in love!" Feliciano said, cutting Roderich off. Roderich looked up from Feliciano and to the empty door frame. Roderich's eyelids lowered in sadness. Lovino and him used to be really good neighbors until that final night where his parents died. Roderich sighed at the memory that still haunted him.

"Lovino…" Roderich began, but he didn't know how to say it.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you! Lovino isn't in a wheelchair anymore and now has a really classy cane! His cane is black with this weird silver wolf sculpted into the handle part! It's really cool!"

"Is he going to be here?" Roderich questioned.

"Already here," Lovino announced in his deeper voice and heavy Italian accent. He was leaning on his cane and standing in the doorway.

"Oh, you are, aren't you?" Roderich said in confusion. Just a second ago, Lovino wasn't standing there.

"No, you dumb bastard, I lied." Lovino replied, sarcastically. "_Complimenti_, Roderich."

"Thank you. Lovino." Roderich replied with a nod. And at that, the doors opened widely, and there stood Uncle Geron.

"Well are you going to get married or not?" Geron questioned. Roderich's stomach flipped, and he almost threw up at the words. Roderich could not reply, but he only walked forward and down the aisle that lead to the altar.

As Roderich stood at the altar, waiting, he wondered if Feliciano was right about all of this. He wondered if this would work out. Just as Roderich was lost in thought, the piano started playing, and the doors opened slowly. Roderich couldn't breathe. _So, this is how I die?_ Roderich thought. _Forgetting how to breathe at the altar on my wedding night._ Then he looked up at her. She was in a simple dress. It was all white, it came down to her ankles, and it had lace sleeves traveling down her arms and stopping at her wrists. She had only a single amount of color on her. There was a silver necklace with a single grass-green jewel. The jewel complemented her grass-green eyes. Roderich could tell that Elizabeva was just as nervous as he was. Then Roderich looked to the gentleman walking her down the aisle. He wasn't as old as he had imagined. _That couldn't be her father. _The man was short, with long hair that barely came to his shoulders. He was wearing a tuxedo with a black jacket and pink vest and matching pink tie. The man had emerald green eyes. He was staring at Roderich with judging eyes, trying to see if he was good enough for Elizabeva. The man stopped in his tracks, and handed her off to Roderich, who took her hand gently.

The priest spoke kindly, but loud enough for everyone to hear. This whole day was tortuously slow, but these moments flew by faster than seconds. Before Roderich knew and comprehended it, he was saying "I do." Then the priest said the next few words that made Roderich freeze, once again unable to breathe. "You may kiss the bride." Both Roderich and Elizabeva stared at each other in both happiness and fear. They had to _kiss._ Roderich slowly leaned down kissed her. The kiss was awkward and short. But right as the kiss finished, Roderich realized that he had fallen in love.


	3. A Night to Remember

Chapter 3

A Night to Remember

The ceremony was over, and the reception had began. People from both sides of the family were dancing, and talking to each other. Roderich and Elizabeva were eating in silence, an occasional family member from either side would walk up, so they could be introduced. Then the man who had walked Elizabeva down the aisle approached.

"Hello there," He said in a kind voice.

"Hello," Roderich replied slowly. Elizabeva looked from Roderich to the man, then back to Roderich.

"Excuse my manners," she said, "this is Feliks Łukasiewicz, my older cousin."

"Pleased to meet you, Roderich." Feliks replied, bouncing on the balls of his feet with his hands folded behind his back.

"To you as well, Mr. Łuka-si-ew-icz."

"Oh, please, just call me Feliks, people who don't, like, end up butchering my last name." He stated with a chuckle.

"Not to be rude," Roderich began, "but why were you walking her down the aisle?" Elizabeva's smile faded and she looked down at her food. A small amount of irritation grew in Feliks' eyes.

"Roderich, may i pull you aside?" He asked.

"Of course, of course," Roderich said, standing. The two men walked away from Elizabeva, then Feliks turned around sharply, looking Roderich in the eye.

"Listen," began Feliks, sounding more irritated than he looked, "Liza's father, my uncle,... passed away only, like, two years ago. My father, the one who helped arrange this, couldn't make it due to... injury."

"Mein Gott! What happened?" Roderich exclaimed.

"My uncle got sick with multiple things. And my father had a knee surgery because he fell down the stairs and broke it. His knee surgery was only a week and a half ago." Feliks explained.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"There was no way you could have." Feliks replied. "And I know that this wedding was arranged because of financial issues, or something, but if you break her heart, I will _kill_ you!" Feliks warned. "I mean, I get it. Sometimes marriage doesn't work out, but you have to have a _reason_. It's not one of those 'Oh I don't really like her that much so I'm just going to break her heart and run off!'" Feliks said putting his hands over his heart and batting his eyes sarcastically. His eyes turned back into irritation, "You get it?" Feliks said, leaning forward and pointing at Roderich. Roderich nodded nervously. "Good." Feliks said with a smile. Feliks put his arm around Roderich's shoulders and walked him back to Elizabeva.

Elizabeva was sitting there talking to Feliciano when Feliks and Roderich walked up. She laughed hysterically at Feliciano's joke.

"Oh! Roderich!" Feliciano exclaimed ecstatically. "Your wife it really cool! She was telling me this really cool joke an-"

"Will you please leave that poor woman alone, Feli?" Lovino asked, limping over on his cane.

"Oh, no, he's perfectly fine." Elizabeva turned towards Roderich with a smile, "Who would this be?"

Roderich froze. He had completely forgot Lovino's name. But Roderich came up with it after a few awkward seconds. "This is Lovino Vargas, my old neighbor before I moved to..." Roderich shook his head, "Before I moved."

"Glad to know I'm just an old neighbor," Lovino said. Roderich rubbed the back of his neck. Lovino chuckled, "May I sit?" He asked Elizabeva. She, in turn, smiled and nodded, gesturing towards the chair across from Feliciano. "_Grazie._" Lovino replied with a nod and a smile.

"So you seem a bit young for a cane, Lovino. Or are you just older than you look?" Elizabeva questioned.

"No, both Feli and I are nineteen. When I was nine, I got shot in the hip when..." Lovino trailed off, looking up at Roderich, who was still standing. Roderich and Feliks sat down in chairs on either side of Lovino. Lovino didn't know whether or not to continue the story.

"When a random psycho attacked my house..." Roderich finished for Lovino. Elizabeva covered her mouth with her hands and gasped. But Roderich continued, "This person snuck into my house and... And murdered both my parents..."

"What the fuck, Roderich?" Lovino exclaimed.

But everyone ignored the cursing Italian. "I jumped out the window and ran to Lovino and Feliciano's house..."

"This is a Goddamn wedding!" Lovino continued.

Once again, everyone ignored the ill-tempered Italian. "The police arrested him, but he had a friend..."

"Fine, whatever." Lovino mumbled, crossing his arms.

Roderich continued his story. "He killed one policeman, and shot Lovino in the hip..." Elizabeva's eyes were wide with surpirze and fear.

"Oh, my God!" She exhaled. "I'm so sorry! My story is nothing compared to-"

"Your story is just as sad. And I'm sure you miss the ones you've lost just as I do." Roderich said. His strange words of compassion caught him off guard. Roderich knew he had to get this off his mind. He looked towards the dance floor. Only a few people stood there, slowly and awkwardly dancing. Roderich stood. "I will be right back, Elizabeva."

Roderich paced towards the pianist, with a requested song title for him to play. _Nocturne In E Flat Major Op.9 No.2_ by Frederic Chopin. "Excuse me, sir. May I request a song?" The pianist looked up at him, and gave him a slight smile and nodded slowly, without messing up the song he was currently playing.

"What is it you'd like to request?" The pianist asked.

"_Nocturne In E Flat Major Op.9 No.2 _by Frederic Chopin," Roderich replied almost as if he reharsed it.

"Ah," The pianist said with a nod.

"I have it with me if you don't know it," Roderich said, reaching into his inner jacket pocket.

"Oh, no. I know that one by heart."

"Really?"

"Yes. I've been playing since I was little."

"What would your name be?" Roderich asked.

"Arthur Kirkland."

"Oh, I thought I may have met you, but I guess not. Though you do seem fimiliar..." Roderich said with a shrug.

"Maybe we met in a past life, Roderich."

"How do you know my name?"

"The priest said it." Arthur replied with a slight smile. "But what are you doing talking to me? Don't you have a wife you need to get to know?"

"You're right. I should be getting back to her." Roderich said, looking back at the table. "Thank you for accepting the request."

"No problem. May you and your love have peace and happiness." Arthur replied with his eyes closed, continuing to play _Sonatina in A Minor Op.27 No.18_ by Kabalesky. Roderich walked back to the table.

The group continued to talk until the song ended, then the new song came on. Roderich recognized it as _Nocturne In E Flat Major Op.9 No.2 _by Frederic Chopin.

Roderich stood without a word, walked to Elizabeva and reached a hand out to her, asking, "Sollen wir tanzen?" Elizabeva giggled and took his hand.

Roderich and Elizabeva danced for most of the night after that. Slow dances, fast dances, old dances, new dances, any dance. For the father-daughter dance, Feliks and Elizabeva danced together. Their dance was a famous polka, but Roderich couldn't remember its name. The night flew by faster than any other moment in Roderich's life, and he didn't want it to end. But eventually Roderich got into their car, and Geron drove them home.

To Roderich's surprise, they weren't being taken to Geron's house. Instead they drove fifteen minutes in the opposite direction. They arrived at a two-story house with a large front and back yard.

"Uh... Where are we?" Roderich questioned.

"Your house." Geron replied.

"W-what? I don't have a-"

"You do now."

"Oh, what a nice surprise!" Elizabeva exclaimed. Roderich nodded, and opened his door, quickly walking to the other side, and then opening Elizabeva's. "Oh, thank you. You're so kind!" Elizabeva complemented. Roderich put out his hand for her, and she gratefully took it.

They walked inside their house, still holding hands, and stared in awe. The house was spotless from floor to ceiling. The walls were a fancy light brown color, with dark brown trim. They walked further in. To the right, a fancy love seat inside a living room. To the left was the dining room, that had a dark brown table sitting in the middle and four chairs sitting around it. In the dining room, there was a bar that separated it from the kitchen. The couple walked further down the hallway. There was a medium sized bathroom and a staircase. They acended the stairs and there was another bathroom, same size, a bedroom, and another room with a closed door. A note was written on it. Roderich read it out loud:

_"Roderich,_

_Geron told us that you've been wanting this since before your parents passed, so we went out and got it for you. I know these past few days have been flying by pretty fast, and the next few ones will too, I'd bet. But I want you to always remember that if you need anything, whether it's money, food, a roof over your head, or someone to fight for you, come to Feli and I. I know I can be a bitter asshole, but I want you to remember that you're like family to me. Once again, if you need ANYTHING, come to us._

_Lovino"_

Roderich stood there puzzled. He felt as if he should know what's through that door, but he didn't. He placed the note in his left chest pocket, and slowly opened the door. Unlike all the other rooms, this one wasn't lit. Roderich flicked on the light switch, then froze. There stood in the middle of a brownish-white room, was a shiny, black, beautiful grand piano. The keys were a beautiful pearl-white complimented by the contrasting polished jet-black keys.

Roderich smiled uncontrollably, then slowly walked in. He sat down on the small black bench with red cushion. Roderich gestured for Elizabeva to enter the room. He patted the velvet-red cushion with his hand, asking her to take a seat beside him. She slowly walked over and sat down.

Quietly, Elizabeva dared to break the silence by saying, "Play something."

Roderich kissed her on the forehead. Elizabeva looked alarmed. Roderich closed his eyes, "Sorry," he mumbled. Elizabeva, in turn, kissed him on the cheek, then rested her head on his shoulder. _This is going to work out after all._ Roderich thought. Gently, Roderich placed is hands on the keys and began playing _Piano Sontata No.14 in C Sharp Minor Op.27 No.2. _When the song stopped, neither one of them broke the silence. They both just stood up, got changed, and went to bed.


	4. Happily Ever After?

Chapter 4

Happily Ever After?

_One and a Half Years Later..._

Elizabeva was listening to Roderich play his piano, as she read her book. This was Roderich's piano room, and it was her reading room. Elizabeva couldn't really explain how she fell in love with such a gentleman, compared to what she though she'd fall in love with. She expected a sports player, an athlete, a mechanic, or something along those lines. But no. She managed to fall in love with Roderich. Roderich's favorite song finished, and a new one began. Elizabeva couldn't keep track of all the song titles, but she remembered the composer. _Ludwig Van Beethoven, _thought Elizabeva.

The young Hungarian woman turned to the clock, it read 5:55 p.m. She closed her book and walked over to Roderich. Roderich opened his left eye as she approached, then slowed his song to a graceful stop. "Hmm?" He asked.

"We need to get ready," Elizabeva instructed.

"For what?"

"Feliks, Toris, Lovino and Feliciano will be here in thirty-five minutes," Reminded Elizabeva.

"And?" Roderich questioned.

"Get ready!"

"I am," Roderich replied. "I cannot play the piano, in sleep clothes. You know this."

"Then why am I still surprised?" Asked Elizabeva, shaking her head and rubbing her temples. "I'm going to get ready then. Sorry to disturb your piano music."

"It's okay, Elizabeva. I really should go down into the living room anyway," Roderich replied.

.

Roderich was actually nervous to meet this Toris man. He had heard that he and Feliks were pretty close, but still. But Roderich sat on his love seat in the living room, reading his book and waiting for their guests to arrive. As Roderich read, he was humming his favorite song from Frederic Chopin, and tapped the back of his book with his fingers. Roderich glanced up at he clock, stood, walked across the room, and opened the door, letting the warm breeze travel into his house through the screen door. Roderich went into the kitchen and got himself glass of water, with pieces of ice floating in it. He sipped at the glass of water as he read his book.

Outside, Roderich heard the sounds of a car engine rumbling through the streets like a cats purr. He glanced out the screen door and saw a familiar car sitting in his driveway. He heard Lovino's angry voice yell swiftly in Italian towards his twin brother. Roderich just sighed. Lovino and Feliciano appeared at the door.

"Just come in, it's unlocked." Roderich instructed.

Feliciano ran full speed towards Roderich and wrapped him in a hug. "Roderich! It's been too long! How's everything? Oh! Where's Elizabeva? Is she here? Where is her family? I want to meet her friend Toris! I wonder when he'll be here! Do you know when he will be here? Have you seen-"

"Hey, idiot! Stop with the questions for five damn seconds!" Lovino growled. He sighed, looked at Roderich and asked, "So, how's the marriage going?"

"Great!" Elizabeva said from the kitchen.

"That's good." Lovino replied with a slow and awkward nod.

"How'd you like the surprise?" Felicaino asked, breaking the short silence.

"The surprise? Oh, you mean the piano!"

"He must play it five times a day," Elizabeva explained from inside the kitchen.

"I'm sorry," Lovino replied.

"Don't be, I love hearing it." She said, walking out of the kitchen with a smile.

"Hey! Guess who!" Sang Feliks from outside the screen door, knocking slightly on it's metal.

"Feliks! Toris!" Exclaimed Elizabeva, running to the door and opening it quickly. She, Feliks and Toris all hugged each other. Roderich stood as Toris and Feliks entered the house. Toris is taller than Feliks, with long brown hair that just barely went passed his shoulders, and ocean blue eyes.

"It smells amazing in here! What ya cooking?" Feliks asked, smelling the air.

"It's just oven pizza." Elizabeva said, walking off into the kitchen. "But right now I am making cheesecake."

Feliks pumped his fists into the air, "Yes!" he sang, "I love cheesecake!" Toris chuckled, then held out his hand for Roderich to shake.

"I am Toris Laurinaitis," He explained with a smile.

Feliks leaned forward, and whispered, pointing at Toris with his right thumb, "He's my boyfriend."

"Okay, or just introduce me like that, whichever you prefer."

Roderich chuckled, "It's quite fine, Toris. Your decision is your decision."

"Thank you, Roderich." Toris said with a slight nod of his head.

"Dinner!" Elizabeva called from the kitchen. Feliciano stood, and sprinted across the hall, and into the dining room.

"PIZZA!" Feliciano yelled.

"He's such an idiot..." Lovino mumbled under his breath, shaking his head, and rubbing the bridge of his nose. Everyone followed Feliciano's example and filed into the dining room, and sat down to eat.

.

Hours passed, it was now within the hour of eleven. After dinner, Feliks decided to break out his vodka (that he brought). About four hours later, Felkis was completely drunk. Roderich was sipping on a beer, and listening to the drunken Feliks talk about random things that made no sense at all. Toris, sitting beside his drunken boyfriend, was only drinking water, but would occasionally lean over and take a sip off Feliks' vodka. Elizabeva was doing the same as Roderich, sipping on a beer and listening. Feliciano and Lovino were drinking wine.

"And then I was like, totally why not?" Feliks began laughing hysterically at the exaggerated memory, "So I just, like, jumped, ya know? Broke straight through the ice, and like, in the, like, freezing cold water!" Toris chuckled, but shook his head disapprovingly.

Roderich turned in his chair towards Toris, "So what's the _real _story?" He whispered.

Toris ran his fingers through his long brown hair, thinking about where to begin. "Most of the story is true, some of the dialogue is exaggerated, though. Anyway, our friend, Matthias, dared Feliks to jump into the frozen lake. And for some odd reason, Feliks did, but the ice did _not_ break beneath his feet, but instead Feliks just slipped and landed on his butt."

Lovino began to laugh hysterically. "So, you're telling me that Feliks slipped and landed on his ass?" Lovino continued to laugh. Then he cut himself off and stared at his glass of wine in betrayal. "I think I've had enough for tonight..."

"This is weird." Feliciano chimed in, "You usually don't care if you get drunk."

Lovino glared at his twin. "I'm usually not at my friends house. I am _not_ going to get drunk in front of Elizabeva... She doesn't need tot see that." Feliks laid his head on the table and sat there in silence.

"Why not?" Questioned Elizabeva with a slight smile.

Lovino turned to Elizabeva. "...I'm not a nice drunk..."

Elizabeva chuckeld with her hand over her mouth. "I'd bet."

"You're not nice now." Roderich mumbled so only Elizabeva could hear him. His Hungarian wife chuckled.

Feliciano looked over at Toris, his eyes filled with so many questions. "So, where did you meet Feliks? How did you-" Feliciano stopped himself from asking Toris too many questions at once. "Where'd you meet Feliks?" He said, repeating his first question.

Toris thought for a moment, smiled, then spoke. "My friend, Edaurd, invited me to this dance, where you dance with a stranger. Maybe he did it so I could get a girlfriend." Toris chuckled at the memory. "Anyway, I was dancing with this pretty woman, and this was a very, very fast moving dance. I was twirling her, and twirling her, then we had to turn around and dance with someone else for a split second. I turned back around and began dancing again, and just as the person leading the dance, which was me, was going to lean in for the kiss, I realized that Feliks stole me form her." Toris's smile was larger than it had been all night. "And do you know what Feliks said?"

"What? What did he say?" Feliciano exclaimed excitedly.

"'Do you want to dance again?' He asked me. 'I'll let you lead.'" Toris said, quoting Feliks exactly. The group around the table chuckled. "I didn't go back to that other woman, though." Toris explained with a smile on his face. Toris sighed happily, looking at Feliks, whose head was still on the table.

Feliks popped his head up quickly, and began singing loudly in Polish, slurring some of the words together. Toris shook his head, then began singing along.

Another hour passed after the Polish singing had ended, and Feliks had fallen asleep leaning his head on Toris's shoulder. Feliciano sat in his chair, half asleep himself.

Elizabeva was leaning on Roderich's shoulder. "I'm tired." She said. "Let's go and sleep."

"Sleep sounds good." Lovino cut in.

"Sì." Feliciano said.

"Feliks, wake up." Toris said, shaking Feliks softly. Feliks only moaned. "Wake up." Toris repeated. Feliks sat up from his leaning position on Toris. Toris stood, and helped Feliks stand. Toris helped Feliks walk to the guest bedroom.

Lovino left the dining room. "Goodnight." He said over his shoulder to Roderich and Elizabeva, then walked into the living room.

Feliciano followed him. "Buonanotte." He said, then disappeared into the living room.

Roderich and Elizabeva left the dining room, climbed the stairs, and went to bed.

Hand in hand.


	5. The Tables Turn

Chapter 5

The Tables Turn

Elizabeva woke to the sound of Roderich screaming in the bed next to her. She sat up quickly, eyes wide, and let out a small scream herself. Roderich was trembling beside her with his hands over his face, hiding it.

"Roderich?" She whispered carefully.

No response.

"Roderich?" She tried again.

Silence.

"Roderich, please, what's wrong?"

"I..." Was all Roderich could respond.

"Roderich?"

"I..."

"Rod-"

"Sor...ry..." He whispered.

"For what?" Elizabeva mumbled, fear for her husband in her voice.

"Screaming. That was... irrational..."

"Why do you say that?"

"It happened a long time ago..." Roderich finally reveled. The event that Roderich was talking about hit Elizabeva like a punch in the face. Elizabeva wrapped him in a hug, rubbing his shoulders, trying to get him to stop trembling.

The door flew wide open, Roderich's head snapped upward, looking the man in the eye.

"What happened? Is everyone okay? I heard a scream!" Lovino was speaking quickly and worriedly with each word.

"Lovino I'm scared..." Feliciano whimpered. Lovino gave him an angry glare over his shoulder.

"Yes." Roderich choked, "We're fine... Just a memory... That's all..."

Lovino's eyes widened, and nodded in understanding. "Oh... From.. Eleven years ago..." He asked carefully. Roderich only nodded. "I'm sorry to have startled you by opening the door like that. That probably didn't help very much." Lovino then turned and calmly closed the door behind him. Roderich slowly laid back down in his bed next to Elizabeva.

"How often have you had these nightmares?" Asked Elizabeva.

Roderich thought for a moment. "I haven't had one since I married you. But before that, I'd say at least once a week." Roderich finally replied. "But you don't have to say 'I'm sorry' or anything like that. I just hope I can go back to sleep..." Roderich closed his eyes.

"Goodnight." Elizabeva whispered. "I love you."

"Goodnight, my wife. I love you too." Roderich relpied.

.

Roderich didn't fall back asleep that night. Instead he just stared at the ceiling, not even trying to sleep, for he knew he wouldn't. Roderich decided to get out of bed at six that morning, and sat in the dining room drinking coffee so he wouldn't feel as tired as he probably looked. Unlike most mornings, he wasn't in his piano room, playing his favorite song until he had to go and do something. This morning he just stared blankly at the dark brown table he was sitting at, forgetting about his coffee until it went cold, but he drank it anyway.

All morning he had been careful to say quiet, and not wake Lovino and Feliciano who were sleeping soundly just in the other room. Roderich's mind just kept wandering back to the memories from eleven years ago, and the horrible feeling in his gut. Why did he have this horrible feeling? Everything was fine, better than fine. It had been a whole year and a half since the last time he had this nightmare. Why does he have so many bad vibes? The sudden sound of movement made Roderich jump, and quickly turn in that direction.

Lovino jumped back in surprise, eyes wide. He stood there for a second, glancing quickly and sespiciously around the dining room. "Morning..." He finally said.

"Sorry." Roderich said. "You just scared me."

"Didn't mean to. Anyway, any luck going back to sleep last night?"

That question was the last one Roderich wanted to hear. But he still responded. "Yes, only a little, though." Roderich lied.

"Really? Is that why you look so damn tired? That why you're drinking cold coffee?" Lovino questioned angrily. Lovino obviously wasn't fooled by his lie.

Roderich sighed. "No. I didn't fall back asleep. I never do." Roderich looked back at his coffee. "How'd you even know that my coffee was cold?"

"Well I don't see any steam coming from it." Lovino ran his fingers through his dark auburn hair and walked across the kitchen to the pot of coffee. "Mind if I have a cup?" Lovino asked, gesturing to the coffee.

"No, go ahead." Roderich replied. He watched Lovino pour coffee into a mug he had gotten out of the cabinet. He walked across the kitchen, and sat opposite of Roderich.

"I have cream and sugar." Roderich informed Lovino, glancing to the counter where the cream and sugar sat.

"I prefer it black." Lovino mumbled, then took a drink of the coffee.

Roderich looked at the clock on the stove, and it read nine forty-five. Roderich raised his eyebrows in surprise. It had been just under four hours since he woke up. This morning was going by fast, and Roderich just hoped the whole day would.

To Roderich's surprise, Feliks walked in the room not much later. He sat in the same chair he did last night, and rubbed his forehead with his hand.

"Aspirin?"

"Huh?" Feliks asked, turning his head toward Roderich.

"Do you want an aspirin? For your hangover?" Roderich repeated his question.

Feliks pointed at Roderich with a smile. "I knew I liked you for a reason. I would love an aspirin."

Roderich stood then walked across the room to the medicine cabinet. But then Roderich stared blankly at the open cabinet. He moved bottles out of the way to see what is in the back. Roderich glanced back at Feliks who had his head in his hands, and his golden blonde hair in his face. Roderich looked back into the cabinet. _I know I have aspirin._ Roderich thought. In the very back corner of the top shelf in the cabinet, the aspirin sat. Roderich opened the bottle and shook one of the few remaining aspirin out of the small bottle, onto his hand. He set it down in front of Feliks along with a small glass of water.

"Thanks." Feliks mumbled.

Eventually the entire house woke up. Just as Roderich guessed, Feliciano was the last to wake. And to Roderich's dismay, the day was slowly inching along, unlike the morning. The sun was bright outside, and Feliciano demanded that they all take advantage of the beautiful day. So the group of six went for a long walk around the neighborhoods.

Roderich and Elizabeva walked side by side in the front, following them was Toris and Feliks, and behind them was Lovino and Feliciano. The six of them generally walked in silence, every now and then Roderich would hear Feliciano giggling. A few times Roderich would look back at the twins, and Lovino would even have a slight smile on his face, even if his hazel eyes were filled with irritation. Roderich glanced back at Feliks, whose eyes were squinted a bit, trying to protect them from the sun. Toris had his eyes closed for a second, his face filled with contentment. Roderich looked back forward. Roderich's chest tightened and his stomach flipped when he saw two signs sitting on the light post.

_Lost Child_

_Have You Seen Our Son?_

_Peter Oxenstierna_

_If You Have_

_Please Call 669-221-6251_

_Ask For Berwald Oxenstierna or Tino Oxenstierna_

Roderich snapped his head over to the second poster.

_Man Missing!_

_Arthur Kirkland_

_Have You Seen This Man?_

_If So, Please Call __202-555-0156_

Roderich stopped in front of the poster and stared at the picture of the boy on it. He had dirty blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. He was in a blue sun hat and a little white shirt and blue shorts.

"That's so sad..." Elizabeva whispered, stopping in front of the poster parallel to Roderich. He looked over when the rest of the group stopped beside him. Feliciano stood with his hands over his mouth and tears in his eyes.

"Poor kid." Lovino mumbled, shaking his head and looking at the ground.

Roderich glanced at Feliks who stared blankly at the poster, his eyes still a little squinted. He looked almost as if he was pondering something.

"I hope he's okay." Toris murmured, his eyes filled with sorrow.

"I heard about this kid." Feliks began, his voice filled with overwhelming anger. "News said that he was, like, kidnapped or something." Feliks pondered again. "Yeah, kidnapped. News says the kidnappers are asking for ransom. Can't remember how much it was these two have to pay to get their son back though."

Roderich narrowed his eyes at the poster of the man on it. The man had bright, messy blonde hair and emerald green eyes with thick eyebrows sitting above them. Roderich studied the picture. He knew this man. Roderich leaned back quickly with a gasp, and turned to his wife. "Elizabeva!" He exclaimed.

"What?"

"Do you recognize this man?" Roderich pointed at the picture of the blonde man.

"A little, why?"

"Isn't he the man who played the piano at our wedding?"

Elizabeva stared at the picture of Arthur Kirkland, then nodded multiple times. "Yes… Yes he did… Shame though… He seemed like a decent man."

Roderich calmed his surprize and forced himself to look calm but a little sad for these people. "Ja." He replied slowly. Although he looked calm, he was truly terrified. The bad feeling in his gut only grew stronger. He knew something bad was going to happen. And soon. But only one question remained. What was going to happen?

.

The next morning, Elizabeva woke up to the sounds of Roderich's piano in the other room. Elizabeva loved it when she woke to that sound. Roderich was playing her favorite song, be she could never remember it's name.

She silently left their room and walked across the hallway to where Roderich sat at his piano. Elizabeva stood in the doorway, leaning against the dark wood frame, and just listened. She listened to one song change to another, then to another. She crept into the room and sat on her little couch, and hummed along to the music.

Elizabeva stared at her husband's beautiful face, as he played the memorized tunes with both of his eyes closed. The song Roderich was playing ended, and a new one began. This one Elizabeva knew the lyrics by heart, so she sang along.

Apparently Elizabeva caught Roderich off guard, for he almost messed up the song. She walked over and sat next to him, tapping her foot on the floor to the fast-paced melody. Elizabeva wrapped her left arm loosely around Roderich, who just continued to play each note with complete perfection.

It wasn't until the song ended that Elizabeva realized how long it's been since she woke up. She woke up at nine thirty, and it was now eleven o'clock. Roderich did not begin another song, but he leaned into Elizabeva, who laid the side of her head on his shoulder.

"I'm hungry." Elizabeva whispered.

"And?" Roderich replied.

"Let's go get breakfast."

"Wait." Roderich mumbled.

"What?" Elizabeva asked, lifting her head off Roderich's shoulder.

Roderich wrapped his arm around Elizabeva's waist and brought her into a kiss. Elizabeva brought her arms up, over his shoulders and around the back of Roderich's neck, and leaned into the kiss.

When they parted, neither one of them spoke or moved, Elizabeva just stared into Roderich's dark purple eyes, and Roderich stared into Elizabeva's light green eyes.

"Now can we have breakfast?" Elizabeva asked, after minutes of silence.

Roderich blinked slowly. "If you must." He replied with a shrug.

After breakfast, Elizabeva realized that Roderich looked a little cooped up, even after the walk the six of them took just yesterday.

"Roderich." Elizabeva said.

"Yes, my sweet?" Roderich called from the other room.

"Let's go for a walk. Just the two of us."

Roderich was silent for a moment, then finally replied. "Fine. It's nice out anyway, and fall is coming, so we should really take advantage of the weather."

Elizabeva stood and walked out of the dining room where she was sitting at the table. She noticed that Roderich wasn't wearing his usual fancy clothing, but instead wearing a nice white button up shirt, and light blue jeans. Elizabeva then realized the wasn't wearing her usual attire. She was wearing a simple, pink summer dress with her hair freely draping over her shoulders, instead of the usual T-shirt and jeans with her hair in a ponytail or bun.

Elizabeva and Roderich walked hand in hand together. They walked about a block, when Elizabeva looked up at Roderich in confusion. "Where are your glasses?" She asked.

A slight smile developed on Roderich's face, then he looked down at her. "On my nightstand. Why?"

"Don't you need them?"

"No. I just always thought I looked plain without them. So I wore them."

Elizabeva looked forward with a blank stare. "My whole life is a lie…" She whispered.

"How could your life be a lie if you've only known me for a year and a half?" Roderich chuckled.

"Okay, the past year and a half has been a lie."

"I'm sorry I lied to you for a whole year and a half."

"How could you?" Elizabeva teased.

"I know, I am a horrible human being." Roderich replied, looking back forward. "But do you know one thing I haven't lied to you about?"

Elizabeva chuckled. "What?"

Roderich stopped, still holding Elizabeva's hand. He looked down at her with his kind, dark purple eyes. Elizabeva's heart throbbed against her chest. "How much I love you." Roderich finally said.

Elizabeva gave Roderich a kiss on the cheek, then leaned her head on his shoulder. "Same here." She whispered.

The two of them walked to a park that was about a mile away. The sun made the sidewalk bright, and the small pond glow. The leaves clung onto the trees as the wind blew at them softly. The dead leaves on the ground danced as the wind pushed them back into the air, just so they could fall again. Children were playing with one another, joggers ran past, breathing heavily, parents and children played with dogs, adults read or talked with their friends, couples walked together, their hands intertwined as they gave each other the occasional kiss.

The atmosphere was perfect and happy, something Elizabeva knew they both needed whenever they got too stressed or cooped up. Elizabeva lead Roderich to a nearby empty bench, where they sat together in silence, still holding each other's hands.

Hours passed, but neither one of them seemed to care, Elizabeva just laid the side of her head on Roderich's shoulder again, who just gave her a warm kiss on her forehead. The sun began to descend in the sky, and Elizabeva stood, still holding Roderich's hand.

"Come on." She ordered, pulling Roderich to his feet. "Follow me."

Roderich did as he was told, and followed Elizabeva through a well-traveled path, to a less-traveled one. Grass and weeds were growing wildly in the middle of it and brushing up against their legs. They both stopped at the end of the path.

"Cover your eyes." Elizabeva instructed.

"What? Why?" Roderich questioned in surprise.

"Just cover your eyes, I will lead you. You trust me, right?"

Roderich paused for a moment, his face growing serious. "With my life." He answered.

"Then cover your eyes."

Roderich still paused for a moment, then slowly brought his free hand up, and covered his eyes with it.

Elizabeva jogged up the hill, holding onto Roderich's hand tightly. She stopped at the top of the hill, and stared at what was before her for a brief moment.

"We're stopped. Can I uncover my eyes now?"

"Yes." Elizabeva whispered.

Roderich uncovered his beautiful purple eyes, blinked twice, then stared in awe. There before Elizabeva and her husband was a beautiful sunset. Shades of pink were painted across the sky, mixed with yellow and orange. The last remnants of blue hung low, clinging onto the sky, but was being overwhelmed by the hundreds of shades of purple and red.

"Mein Gott." Roderich whispered, completely intrigued. "How did you find this?"

Elizabeva chuckled. "My family and I were at this park, and I followed a stray dog here. The dog ended up running off after a squirrel and I haven't seen it since."

Once again, silence fell upon them. Neither one of them had words to describe the sunset before them, so they just watched slowly disappear. Right as the last remnants of light were disappearing beneath the horizon, they walked home.

Hand in hand.

.

Lovino sat on the couch that night. It must have been two in the morning, but for some reason, he could not sleep, and neither could Feliciano, which was the strange part. Lovino was reading a book as Feliciano scrolled through the channels, looking for something to watch.

The shadows and colors flashed on the walls and the pages of Lovino's book with each passing movie title. Lovino heard the sound of a familiar voice. He glanced up at the television, and stared at what was on it. The news anchor was speaking about something, Lovino just guessed it was about taxes, or rising gas prices or something along those lines.

_"Mr. Peter Oxenstierna was found dead at eleven thirty last night." _Lovino froze in mid-turn of his page, and stared absent-minded at the coffee table.

The news anchor continued. _"He was found just one hour after the Oxenstierna couple paid the ransom of fifteen thousand dollars."_

Lovino jerked his head up and squinted at he glowing television before him.

"_All they wanted was... Money and... And.. Death..." _The broken up father, Tino Oxenstierna, choked out.

Lovino's stomach flipped, he felt as if he was going to vomit. Lovino gently closed his book, not daring to take his eyes off of the news story, not daring to miss a single word.

_"Although the ransom had been paid by the Oxenstierna parents, apparently money wasn't enough for this group of murderers." _The anchor said, the television cutting back to her, _"And although the ransom had been paid, neither Tino, nor Berwald Oxenstierna can describe what any of the murderers looked like. All Berwald Oxenstierna could tell police was 'They were in all black. Their faces, eyes, hands, everything was covered by something. We couldn't even tell what color they were'"_

Lovino's heart was pounding quickly against his chest. What's with the sudden fear? The sudden blast of adrenaline? The sudden terrible feeling crawling up and down his spine? Whatever it was, Lovino could tell something was going to happen, something was going to end badly. But only one questioned remained. What was going to happen?


	6. The Ride Home

Chapter 6

The Ride Home

Lovino woke to the sound of his cell phone ringing in his ear after eventually drifting into a light slumber. He jerked awake and sat up quickly in surprise. His eyes darted from one side of the room to the next, desperately trying to find the source of the sound. Lovino looked down at the cell phone that rang and vibrated endlessly. He picked it up and examined the name on the caller I.D. It was Lovino's boss.

"Hello?" Lovino asked, answering the call.

"Hello, this is Lovino Vargas, right?"

"Yes, boss. What is it?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to call you in. You have to be here tomorrow night."

"I'm on holiday." Lovino growled.

"I know, and that's why I said I'm sorry. Anyway, be there tomorrow night. Goodbye Vargas." Boss hung up.

Lovino breathed angrily through grit teeth, then laid back down on the couch and drifted back into sleep.

Lovino awakened when he heard the sound of the piano coming from upstairs. He glanced at the time on his phone, ten thirty, it read. He then sat up, stood up, then walked to the dining room, just as Elizabeva finished cooking a bowl of scrambled eggs for the whole group. Toris sat in silence, while Feliks was laying his head on the table and snoring slightly.

"Could someone go get Roderich and someone else wake Feli?" Elizabeva asked with a slight smile.

Lovino looked at Toris. "I'll wake Feli if you get Roderich."

"Deal." Toris stood. "And when I come back, I will have to wake Feliks, which can be a real pain if he doesn't feel like waking up..." Toris shook his head and walked off, disappearing through the doorway.

Lovno followed Toris out and walked back into living room. "Feli." Lovino mumbled. "Feli, wake up. Wake up." Lovino began shaking Feliciano. "Feli, wake the hell up!"

Feliciano's eyes opened slowly. "Huh?" He asked.

"Wake up!"

"Five more minutes" Feliciano rolled onto his side, turning his back to Lovino.

"Feliciano Vargas, get up now!"

"Why are you using my full name like your my _madre_?"

Lovino closed his eyes tightly. "Just get the hell up." He growled, walking away. "Or you won't get breakfast!" He hissed over his shoulder.

Lovino knew Feliciano loved food, so Lovino knew how to bribe his brother with it. The twins walked back to the dining room table and sat down. Toris was sitting next to Feliks, who was already awake, and Roderich was helping Elizabeva put food on the table. Scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. The group starting talking about how their nights were, how well they slept, what kind of dreams they had.

"I had a dream that this bowl of pasta was eating me!" Feliciano exclaimed.

Lovino looked over at him, his face filled with confusion. "What the hell?"

"I don't know." Felicaino concluded, mouth full of toast.

"What about you, Lovino? How was your night?" Roderich asked.

Lovino froze. His mind had completely forgotten about the poor Oxenstierna boy until that moment. "Could have been better..." He mumbled.

"Why? What happened?" Elizabeva asked, her voice full with concern.

Lovino didn't even think before the answer shot out of his mouth. "The Oxenstierna kid was found dead last night." _Dammit!_ He thought.

"Oh my God..." Elizabeva covered her mouth with her hands.

"Oh yeah." Feliciano mumbled.

Lovino sighed with his eyes closed, then swallowed hard. He really didn't want to talk about this. But he repeated his statement, slower this time. "The Oxenstierna kid was found dead last night. News anchor said around eleven, I think."

The room just stared at him, silently and endlessly. Lovino just sat there with his eyes closed, trying to calm the bad feeling in his stomach. He opened his hazel eyes, and stared at the plate of eggs, bacon and toast in front of him. He looked up and met the gaze of his twin brother. Feliciano's eyes were filled with sadness and fear. Lovino looked back down.

It became obvious to him that the rest of the table wanted more information on the murder, so Lovino continued. "Apparently the Oxenstierna couple had to pay fifteen thousand dollars." Lovino looked back up at everyone and scanned the table. As he thought, everyone was staring at him. So, once again, he continued. "Neither Berwald or Tino saw what the murderers looked like when they paid the ransom… The murderers concealed their appearance so that Berwald nor Tino even knew their skin color." The room was still silent, along with everyone in it. Lovino didn't know what to say next. His plan was to tell everyone that he was being called back early for work, and to tell everyone about the murder later that day, not right at Goddamn breakfast. Lovino decided that he has ruined everyone's day already, so he finished the story. "Since the officials don't have any leads or appearances of the people they're looking for, the murderers got away…" Lovino fell silent again, for he had nothing else to tell.

Although Lovino had no appetite, he decided to mindlessly chew the food on his plate. Each passing second felt like a year as the room stayed silent, but eventually everyone else at the table did the same as Lovino; mindlessly chew on their food.

An hour that felt like a lifetime passed before anyone spoke. "Well I'm full." Roderich mumbled, after gnawing on eggs and toast for an hour.

But no one replied. Roderich washed off his plate, and left the dining room, and walked through the living room, and out onto the front porch. Lovino followed him after rinsing off his plate and placing it in the dishwasher. As Lovino stepped outside, a strong gust of warm wind, seemed to turn cold. Autumn was nearly here, and winter would soon follow. Roderich glanced over at his shoulder as Lovino closed the door behind him. Roderich looked back forward into the yard.

"I'm fine, you know. I just needed some fresh air." Roderich stated firmly, not taking his eyes off the street in front of him.

"Yes, same here. Other than the weird feeling in my gut, I'm just fine. Everything is peachy." Lovino hissed sarcastically. Although he couldn't "sense the mood", he could always tell when someone was lying to him. "So, Roderich, why are you really out here?"

Roderich justed stared forward, not replying for a long time. Lovino considered that Roderich was just ignoring him and trying to get him to leave. Lovino just leaned on the porch railing with crossed arms. The wind almost seemed angry and it blew cold and hard on Lovino and Roderich. "A bad feeling…" Roderich mumbled.

For as short moment, Lovino forgot what he had asked. He thought hard, then remembered. "And the same with me." Lovino replied, waving his hand forward, directing it towards everything.

Another long silence. Lovino was really getting sick of silence, it just made his vibe feel worse and his stomach twist more. "I have to leave tonight." Lovino looked over at Roderich, no longer staring absentmindedly at the street.

"What? I thought you were on holiday."

"I was. Until my damn boss decided he needed to call me in." Lovino hissed, crossing his arms again.

"Why?" Roderich looked over at Lovino, his eyes scared.

"How the hell should I know?" Lovino's voice raised louder. "Do you know that I think happened? I think some dumbass required to have his damn holiday this week, and they needed someone to come in." Lovino's bad feeling turned into anger. "Which makes no sense!" Lovino yelled, pointing at Roderich. "I mean, mio Dio! I'm an accountant! All you have to do is make someone else work a little bit more for six more days!"

Roderich just blinked at him, his eyes still filled with worry and fear. He looked back to the yard. "I'm sorry, Lovino. Maybe you can reschedule your last week of holiday?" Roderich asked calmly.

Lovino sighed and placed his head in his hands. "Maybe…" He grumbled, closing his eyes. As Lovino stood there, breathing slowly and deeply, his anger calmed, and turned back into that bad vibe. Then something seemed to click in Lovino's mind. Roderich was sharing the same bad feeling. But that made no sense. Why the hell would Roderich have the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

The question seemed to jump out of his mouth before he could even try to stop it. "How would you describe your bad feeling?" Lovino mentally kicked himself. _What the hell kind of question of that? How would you describe your bad feeling? What am I? I'm a Goddamn accountant! Not a damn psychologist!_ Lovino yelled to himself. He glanced at Roderich to see Roderich staring at him in confusion. Lovino searched his mind to find a way to fix his question. "Let me restated that. Do you think you're just being paranoid, or do you really feel like something bad is going to happen?" Lovino realized that he didn't make his question any better. First he confused Roderich, and now he was worrying Roderich.

"I feel like something bad is going to happen." Roderich replied slowly, looking down at the driveway.

_Fucking fantastic._ Lovino thought.

"What about your bad feeling?" Roderich questioned, still gazing at the driveway, not even squinting as the cold wind blew in his face.

Lovino didn't want to answer. He didn't want to worry Roderich. "Same." He whispered, begging that Roderich wouldn't hear him, but decide to leave it alone anyway.

But Lovino saw Roderich's head drop slightly and his eyes close.

"But," Lovino began, not sure where he was going with it. _But? But what?_ Lovino cleared his throat. "But… It's just a feeling… We could be wrong…" What a shitty comeback. Here they stood, feeling like something terrible was going to happen, and all he could say for reassurance was "We could be wrong". _That's right Lovino. _He thought. _We __**could**_ _be wrong. But what are the chances that you're right?_ Lovino just wanted to slam his head into a wall, he wanted to crawl back into bed and try again tomorrow. It was eleven in the morning and he already ruined everyone's day by telling them about a little boy who got murdered last night, and whatever reassurance he tried to give pretty much came out of the toilet.

Lovino sighed and shook his head. He obviously wasn't helping, he was actually making things worse by telling Roderich he shared the same terrible feeling. "I'm going back inside, I'm getting a little cold." That wasn't the reason Lovino dismissed himself, but he said it anyway. When Roderich didn't reply Lovino turned around, and walked through the doorway back into the warm house.

.

To Lovino's dismay, the day was slowly inching along. It was passed dinner, and only seven o'clock, but it felt like centuries had passed. Lovino noticed that Roderich was quiet today, actually he had been since that walk the six of them took and found the missing persons poster.

Feliciano was now hugging him so tightly he couldn't breathe. "You can't leave early! You can't! You can't!" Feliciano screamed.

"Feli-"

"No! You can't leave!"

"Hey! It's not like I'm leaving forever, you idiota! You will see me when you get off holiday yourself." Lovino managed to choke out with barely any breath.

"No!" Feliciano yelled.

"What the hell are you? A toddler throwing a temper-tantrum?" Lovino hissed in his brother's ear.

Feliciano hugged him tighter.

"Feli, I can't breathe!" Lovino whispered.

"Lovino, drive home safely." Feliciano pulled himself off of Lovino and Lovino gasped for breath.

"Why the hell is it always like this? I leave and you break one of my ribs!"

"I just worry that's all…" Feliciano whimpered.

"Wow, and, like, I thought Toris worried." Feliks chuckled, pointing at Toris with his right thumb.

Elizabeva stepped forward and wrapped Lovino in a gentle, but firm hug. "Goodbye, Lovino, be careful."

Lovino awkwardly hugged her back. "I will Elizabeva."

"And give me or your brother a call when you get home." Roderich ordered, placing his hands on his hips.

"Trust me, I will. Feli would keel over if I didn't." Lovino teased.

He took a step forward and shook Toris' hand. "It was nice to meet you Toris, and I'm sorry I'm leaving sooner than I thought."

"It was nice to meet you too. And I'm sorry your holiday was cut short." Toris replied.

Lovino sighed. "It's fine, you're not my boss. You didn't call me in early." Lovino turned towards Feliks who held out his hand to shake Lovino's. "It was nice to see you again, Feliks. And to get to know you a little better."

"It was nice to see you too, Lovino." Feliks said with a smile. "But seriously though, drive safe."

Lovino nodded, slung his bag over his left shoulder, and turned to the door. He gripped the cold metal door handle and began to turn it when Feliciano exclaimed, "Can't you leave in the morning?"

A weird feeling traveled down Lovino's spine, but he ignored it. "No. Boss will kill me if I show up late. You know that."

Feliciano hugged Lovino again. "Make it home safe. Please?"

Lovino hugged his brother back, and a slight smile formed on his face. "I will. Goodbye, fratello."

Lovino wasn't sure why he was so kind with that last hug. Usually he hates hugs, but something told him to hug his brother. Lovino and Feliciano broke apart, and Lovino turned out the door, and strode down the driveway. He paused before he stepped into his car, turned it on, and drove away.

Finally the hours were passing quickly. It was now ten o'clock, and the roads were pretty empty. Lovino felt his eyelids become a little heavy, and he turned on the radio. Lovino drummed his thumbs on the steering wheel in perfect harmony with the beat of the songs that played. He hummed to the tunes he knew, and listened closely to the ones he didn't, deciding whether or not he liked them. An hour passed before Lovino realised he was low on gas.

Lovino rolled his white car into the nearest gas station of the little town he was in. He pulled up to the gas pump, and went searching through his wallet. He looked at how much cash he had, then glanced at where he usually stores his credit card. It was not in it's place. Lovino searched through his pockets, bag and wallet before he remembered he left it on his nightstand. Lovino sighed, and limped into the gas station.

"Evening." The man behind the counter said with a smile. "What can I do for you?"

"Evening." Lovino replied. "Twenty on pump nine, and I about to get a coffee."

"Okay, sir. Take your time."

Lovino walked off, limping on his cane more than he had been the past few years. The group of friends he was staying with often helped him forget about his cane, so his hip was hurting worse than usual. He picked up the styrofoam cup, poured coffee in it, and snapped the plastic top onto it, then limped up to the counter.

"That'll we twenty-five fifty, with the gas." The clerk said cheerfully.

Lovino pulled out twenty-six dollars and handed them to the clerk.

"Thank you." The clerk said. "Sorry to ask, you probably get this a lot, but you too young for a cane."

"Childhood injury." Lovino mumbled. "Keep the change. Have a nice night. "

"Thank you, you too, sir."

Lovino left the gas station and as he approached his car, a bad feeling twisted in his stomach again. _Let's hurry and get out of here, Lovino._ He ordered himself. He pulled the pump out of his car, quickly sat down in the driver's seat, and turned the car on. Lovino froze when he saw the silhouette sitting in the back seat directly behind him. Lovino acted natural, he leaned forward to grab the gun from beneath his seat, pretending he was adjusting it. No gun. He played with the seat a little more, took a sip of his coffee, and turned his headlights on.

"Dannazione sono stanco." He mumbled in Italian, acting like he thought he was the only one in the car. But he was secretly, slowly and silently taking the metal wolf off the top of his cane. He now held the wolf in his hand, and he examined the blade that was attached to it, that was earlier concealed inside the wood of his cane. Lovino took another sip of his coffee with his free hand.

In a quick movement, Lovino spun around, reached over his chair, and went to stab the figure in its face. Lovino froze when a handgun was pressed quickly up against his forehead.

The figure pulled back the hammer, cocking the gun. "Turn around." He growled.

Lovino did as he was told as fast as he could.

"Buckle up."

Lovino did.

"Drive."

Lovino put the car in drive, and drove away.


	7. Where Are You, Fratello?

Chapter 7

Where Are You, Fratello?

_That Morning, Monday._

Feliciano paced in the dining room with his arms crossed and his thoughts full of worry. "_I'll call when I get home. I'll call when I get home. I'll call when I get home." _Feliciano thought, repeating Lovino's words in his head. Why hasn't Lovino called. He would have gotten home at about three in the morning, and he would have called Feliciano. Not Roderich. And if he did call Roderich, Roderich would've told Feliciano that he got the call. Feliciano wiped sweat off his forehead. It was six in the morning and Feliciano woke up to use the bathroom and he noticed that he didn't get a call, and Lovino didn't leave a voicemail.

_Sit down and calm down, Feli._ He told himself. _Lovino must have been tired and went to bed. He'll call you when he wakes up._

Feliciano looked at the clock. "Six in the morning…" Feliciano hissed. "Lovino will be up in about an hour. If you don't get a call in that much of time, you call him." Feliciano mumbled. But for some reason, Feliciano was doubtful that Lovino would call. Whether he'd call in an hour, or ever.

Terrible thoughts had been passing his mind ever since Lovino left. _Those murderers are still out there. They could get Lovino._ Feliciano thought. But Feliciano refused to let those thoughts haunt him. He dialed Lovino's number into his phone.

He placed his phone to his ear and listened to the humming sound for a slight second before the recording machine took over. "You have reached the voicemail box of 'Lovino Vargas'. Leave a message at the tone."

Felciano froze. That was the worst thing he could have ever heard in his life. The tone went off.

"Ciao, Lovino, sono io, Feli. Ebbene ieri sera hai detto che mi avrebbe dato una chiamata, ma non hai. Comunque mi dai una chiamata indietro. Ti amo, fratello. Feli…" Feliciano hung up and fell into the closest chair. His heart was pounding against his chest and adrenaline pumped through his veins. _Where is Lovino?_

.

_Wednesday._

Feliciano had barely slept since he woke up on Monday. Still no call from his twin brother. Still no sign of his existence. Feliciano was packing his bag, quickly and messily shoving clothes and other items into it. It barely fit without the clothes being folded, but he didn't care. Unfortunately he and Lovino drove in the same car, so he had to beg to borrow Roderich's spare one. But Feliciano gave Roderich the "hound eyes" that always worked on his boyfriend and used to work on his grandfather.

Felciano practically ran out the door, into the driveway, and into Roderich's spare car. He got into the hard but comfortable brown leather seats, turned on the vehicle, and locked the doors. It was noon, so he wouldn't have to worry about dealing with traffic on his way out of town, but he would on his way into the town Lovino lives in. But that didn't matter. Feliciano put the car in reverse and was just about to pull the car out of the driveway when the was a knock at the window.

Feliciano jumped at the sound, then slowly rolled it down. "Sì?"

Roderich stood there, and he leaned his crossed arms on the windowsill. "Be careful. Call us at every time the hour changes, got it?"

"Sì, Roderich. I understand." Felciano replied.

"_Be careful."_ Roderich emphasized.

"Trust me, I will. Lovino would kill me if.. I… wasn't…" Feliciano filled with sadness. He didn't know what he would do if Lovino wasn't okay.

A memory hit Feliciano, but it quickly turned sad:

"_Ruggero is gone, Feli. But I will always be here for you. I am your older fratello, it's my job." Lovino had once said at Granpa's funeral._

"_But we're twins." Felciano whimpered between sobs._

"_Well for one, I act older. And technically I am older by three minutes. But that all doesn't matter, because I know Granpa is gone, but I will protect you and help you when you need me to. Even if I'm a complete asshole to you."_

"I'll be careful." Feliciano stated firmly, drawing his attention back to the conversation and looking Roderich in the eye.

"The others say goodbye and be careful." Roderich informed Feliciano.

"Tell them the same I told you." Feliciano nodded to Roderich, who stood and backed up so Feliciano wouldn't run over his feet as he pulled out the driveway.

Feliciano was about fifteen minutes down the road when he realized he hadn't informed Ludwig what was going on. He pulled up to the stoplight and pressed three on his speed dial, and pressed his phone to his ear, begging that Ludwig would answer.

"Hello?" Ludwig's deep voice and thick German accent asked.

Feliciano was relieved that the love of his life was okay. "Ludwig!" He exclaimed.

Ludwig must have sensed fear in Feliciano's voice, for he asked, "What's wrong?"

Feliciano sat there, not sure where to begin. "Everything." He blurted out.

"What's going on? How can I help? What do you need me to do?" Ludwig quickly asked, not even pausing for a split second after Feliciano's answer.

"Lovino…" Feliciano began, but he didn't know how to say it.

"What's wrong with Lovino?"

"He's… Missing…"

Ludwig was silent for a moment. "Mein Gott…" He whispered.

"Well… At least I think he is."

"What do you mean by you think he is?" Ludwig was obviously confused by the way Feliciano worded his sentence... again.

"He left on Monday, and he hasn't called like he said he would and his phone is off. I'm driving to his apartment right now in Roderich's car to check if he's there. I would have called his work to see if he's shown up at all, but I can't remember the number."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Tell Gilbert, if he doesn't already know, and I guess I will keep you informed on what's going on."

"Ja, please, keep me informed. I will tell Gilbert. If you figure out anything else for me to do, give me a call, but right now you really should focus on driving." Ludwig replied.

Feliciano agreed. He wasn't the best driver anyway, so he really shouldn't have distractions. But he was afraid if he hung up with Ludwig, Ludwig would never pick up the phone again, just like with Lovino.

"Did you hear me?" Ludwig asked.

"Sì, Ludwig. Arrivederci. Ti amo."

"Auf widersehen, Feli. Ich liebe dich." Ludwig hung up.

Feliciano placed his phone in the cup holder, and focused on the road.

.

_Same Day, Wednesday, 7:00_

Feliciano sat in the parking lot in front of the apartment complex he and Lovino live in. He sat there, fiddling with the keys, listening to them jingle in his hand. He was working up the courage to go in there to find out whether or not Lovino had come at all. Feliciano pushed himself out of the driver's seat and out of the car. He closed the door behind him, locked the car, and slung his bag over his right shoulder.

He slowly walked up to the building, used his card to open the door, and walked in. Feliciano paced through the hallways, up the stairs, and to the door of the apartment room he and his twin shared. He placed the key in the lock, and slowly unlocked the door. The lock clicked open, and he steadily opened the door and listened to it creak.

The room was dark. Feliciano turned the lights on, and listened for movement. Nothing. He stepped into the kitchen, dining room, living room, his room, Lovino's room. No one. No disturbance. No change. Nothing.

Feliciano's heart was pounding against his chest, and his ears started to ring. There was only one way to confirm it. Call his boss.

Feliciano searched through cabinets, drawers, dressers, shelves and found nothing. He ran back to the kitchen with one last place to look. Stuck to the refrigerator by a magnet was a little note labeled: _Boss's Number._ Feliciano studied the number then dialed it into his phone.

Once again he listened to the humming sound.

"Hello?" An odd voice answered.

"Hello! This is Feliciano Vargas, Lovino Vargas's brother, anyway, has Lovino shown up for work since you called him to come back from holiday?"

"No. I fired his sorry ass. Why?"

Feliciano's heart sank. "Why… why did you… fire… him…?"

"Oh for God's sake! It's not like he couldn't find another jo-"

"Why did you fire him? Just answer the question!" Feliciano exclaimed into the phone.

"He didn't show up when I told him to."

"How did you fire him?" Feliciano asked.

"I called him."

"Did he answer?"

Lovino's boss was silent for a moment, but finally replied. "No… Why?"

Those were the last words Feliciano wanted to hear in his life. Lovino's boss confirmed it. Lovino is missing. _Lovino is missing._ Feliciano choked the words out to his brother's boss. "Lovino Vargas… Went missing… Monday night… after he left… to go back to… work…"

The boss went silent again, but then finally spoke. "Have you called police?"

"I will." Feliciano choked back tears.

"Well I'm very sorry Mr. Vargas. Good luck. If you find him, I might have a job for him." The boss hung up.

Feliciano sat there, sobbing his eyes out onto the kitchen table where he and Lovino had breakfast and dinner every day. The hour passed to eight o'clock, but he didn't bother to even pick up his phone and dial Roderich's number. Nor at nine o'clock.

It was nine thirty when Feliciano's phone began blaring its ringer. He listened to it for a while. Right before it went to voicemail he picked it up.

"Roderich?" He whispered.

Silence.

"Hello?" Feliciano looked his phone then realized he didn't recognise the number.

"Feliciano Vargas?" A strange voice asked.

"Sì." Feliciano said slowly and cautiously.

"Good. Now I'm only going to say this once, so I suggest you listen closely. You listening?"

"Who is this."

"None of your concern. Are you listening?"

"Yes…"

"Good. Roderich Edelstein has a week to get to the back alleyway behind the Stripmall on Walter Road with all of the Edelstein fortune, or we shoot him in the gut and watch him bleed."

"Who? Roderich?" Feliciano asked.

The man on the other end laughed. "No." Then the said the name that had been on Feliciano's mind the past three days. The name that should have been any other name. "Lovino." He chuckled.

Feliciano froze. "Let him go!" Feliciano growled into the phone.

"Have Roderich come alone." The man continued. "If there are other people with him, we will _slaughter_ your brother."

Feliciano couldn't breathe with the tightness in his chest.

"Don't even try to get police involved either. If you do then we'll… well you don't want to know what we'll do to him if you do. Okay?"

Feliciano didn't want to make this decision. It wasn't his money. But then again, it was his brother. His fratello. "Yes." Feliciano hissed.

"Everything clear?"

Feliciano breathed through his anger, his rage and stopped himself from throwing his phone into the wall. "Transparently." He growled through grit teeth.


	8. Decisions

Chapter 8

Decisions

Roderich sat at the dining room table, drumming his thumbs on the dark colored oak. It had been two and a half hours since the Feliciano last called, he was supposed to call every time the hour changed.

Roderich was filled with worry and anger. Either something had happened to Feliciano, or Feliciano forgot that he had to call. Roderich swallowed hard, picked up his phone, and began to angrily dial Feliciano's cell phone number. Right as Roderich was about to press "talk", his phone began to ring. It was Feliciano.

Roderich put the phone to his ear. "What the hell Feliciano? What happened to calling me every hour?"

"Am I on speaker?" Feliciano replied quickly.

"Answer my question! Why haven't you called?"

"Am I on speaker?" Feliciano screamed into the phone so loudly Roderich had to pull the phone from his ear.

"No." Roderich replied, slowly placing his phone on his ear.

"Put me on speaker." Feliciano ordered.

"Why?"

"Put me on speaker!" Feliciano yelled, his voice full of fear and anger.

Roderich put Feliciano on speaker. "You're on speaker."

"Where are the others?" Feliciano asked.

"Elizabeva is right next to me, and Feliks and Toris are in the other room. Why?"

"All of you get in the same room. I need to talk to _all_ of you."

Roderich did as he was told, he and Elizabeva stood, and walked in the living room where Toris and Feliks sat. Feliks and Toris fell silent when they saw the worry and fear in Roderich's eyes. "Where all here." Roderich mumbled.

"Good." Feliciano paused, took a deep breath, then continued. "Lovino isn't here, there is no sign that he was, and I called his boss and he said that Lovino was fired because he never showed up… He said when he fired Lovino over the phone, he had to leave a voicemail because Lovino didn't answer…" Feliciano blurted out quickly.

The room fell silent. No one spoke for a very long time, then Feliciano continued. "We cannot call the police."

"What? Why?" Roderich yelled in surprise.

"Lovino has been kidnapped."

"And why can't we get police involved?" Elizabeva questioned.

"They said I didn't want to know what they would do to Lovino if we did." Feliciano whined.

"Who said this?" Feliks yelled across the room.

"The kidnappers. They called me. They must have gotten my number from either Lovino or his phone." Feliciano said.

Roderich heard the sounds of a door slamming and an engine turning on. "What are you doing?" Roderich asked.

"Backing out of the parking lot." Feliciano made it sound obvious.

"Why?" Toris asked.

"We have a week to get in the back alleyway behind the stripmall on Walter Road with all of the Edelstein fortune, or they will shoot Lovino in the gut."

"Okay, so by the time you get back here, well have about six and a half days." Toris explained.

"Yes, well let me rephrase that." Feliciano began, the engine of his car roaring in the background. "More like Roderich has a week, from right now, to get in the back alleyway behind the stripmall on Walter Road with all of the Edelstein fortune, or they will shoot Lovino in the gut."

"Why me?" Roderich asked.

"I don't know. I guess they want _your_ money. Do you know what the funny thing is?" Feliciano asked.

"What?" Roderich replied.

"The man that was on the phone with me, he sounded familiar."

"How so?" Feliks responded.

Feliciano waited a few moments before he answered. "He kinda sounds like the guy who shot Lovino in the hip."

Roderich froze. He never even thought that the night that haunted his nightmares could even relate to this in any way, but now it all makes sense. These men were after money, and eleven years ago they wanted the Edelstein fortune, and would do anything to get it. And today, they kidnapped Lovino to use him as a hostage to collect a ransom of most of the Edelstein fortune. _Well played._ Roderich thought.

But Feliciano continued. "Roderich, you _must_ go alone. If you don't, they'll… They'll slaughter Lovino!"

"No!" Elizabeva yelled. "Roderich is _not_ going alone!"

"Elizabeva-"

"They could kill Roderich and Lovino then run off with the money! I won't let him go alone!" Elizabeva interrupted Feliciano.

"Please!" Feliciano sobbed. "They'll _kill_ Lovino! Don't you understand this! We aren't calling the shots here! If we do one thing that they don't want us to do, they'll kill him!"

The room fell silent again, and everyone stared at the phone, where they heard the slight sound Feliciano crying.

"They'll kill my fratello…" He whimpered.

"Feli…" Elizabeva began. "I can't let them kill my husband, the love of my life."

"Please, Roderich. Just go alone." Feliciano begged.

Roderich wanted to reassure Feliciano that he would go alone, and he would get Lovino back, and everything would be okay. That everything would be fine. But Roderich agreed with Elizabeva. "I'm sorry, Feli. But I agree with Elizabeva." He told Feliciano slowly.

Feliciano was silent, with the exception of the sound of him sniffling on the other end of the phone. "But…" Feliciano pleaded.

"I have an idea." Feliks said, breaking the silence.

Toris looked over at Feliks, with raised eyebrows. "What would that be?"

Feliks paused for a dramatic effect. "Roderich, who is unarmed, takes the Edelstein fortune to the alleyway, while Elizabeva hides in the shadows with a gun. Feliciano is hidden in a different alleyway where he has sight of their car, but is ducking under the dashboard so he isn't seen. Toris and I will be at the nearby gas station taking our time putting gas in our tank, but we will be keeping contact with Feli. How does that sound?"

Roderich thought about what Feliks was saying, and actually decided that this was a good idea. Roderich nodded. "I like this plan."

Elizabeva and Toris both agreed, but Feliciano stayed silent. All they could hear from the phone was the humming of the engine from his borrowed car.

"Feli?" Roderich asked. "What about you?"

Feliciano sighed. "Fine." He whispered. "I'm just going to focus on driving right now. And I'm going to call Ludwig and tell him what's going on. I will call you in an hour?"

"Please do so." Roderich replied.

Feliciano hung up.

.

Feliciano nervously dialed Ludwig's number into his phone, being sure to keep an eye on the road. He listened to the humming sound, desperately waiting for Ludwig to answer. His heart pounded against his chest, and his stomach twisted when Ludwig didn't answer the phone as quickly as usual.

"Hello?"

Ludwig's voice took Feliciano completely off guard and he nearly dropped his phone. "Hey, Ludwig." He replied.

"Feli!" Ludwig exclaimed with fear in his voice.

Feliciano stayed silent for a moment. There was something off in Ludwig's voice, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something told him not to tell Ludwig the information he recently got. "I just called to check up on you. How are you?" Feliciano lied.

"Me? Oh, I'm fine. How-" Ludwig cleared his throat. "How are you?"

"I'm… Okay…" Feliciano replied awkwardly. Feliciano was never great at "sensing the mood", but he could always tell when someone was lying to him. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Ja, I told you, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Ludwig lied.

"You sound nervous."

Ludwig didn't answer for a little while, and Feliciano heard a weird clicking sound in the background. "Well," Ludwig began nervously. "I nearly got in a car accident today… And-and you scared me awake with my cell phone going off." Ludwig paused. "But I'm fine, really."

Feliciano wondered what was happening to make Ludwig lie to him so much, but he obviously wasn't getting anywhere with him. "Okay." Feliciano said. "I'm going to hang up now. Goodbye Ludwig."

"Goodbye."

"Ti amo."

Ludwig paused again, cleared his throat, then went silent, "Ich liebe dich." He whispered.

Feliciano hung up, a weird, terrible feeling was twisting in his stomach. But right now, he just needed to focus on driving.


	9. Days of Pain

Chapter 9

Days of Pain

_Day 1_

"Turn left here."

Lovino did as he was told, exactly the way he was told to do it, so he turned on his blinker, and made a perfect left turn onto a gravel and dirt road.

"Follow the road."

Lovino followed the road, trying to keep his arms and hands from trembling.

"Turn right."

Lovino turned his blinker on, slowed down, and turned right.

"Follow the road."

Lovino followed the road, trying to keep his mind from spinning.

"Pull over."

Lovino pulled over.

"Park the car."

Lovino parked the car.

"Turn the car off."

Lovino turned the car off.

"Unbuckle yourself."

Lovino unbuckled himself.

"Stay here."

Lovino stayed in the drivers seat, exactly where he was told to stay. The man behind him uncocked the gun, and got out of the car. He walked to the drivers seat, opened the door, and pointed the gun at him.

"Put your hands on your head."

Lovino put his hands on his head. The man pulled him out of the car, and onto his feet. He turned Lovino in the direction he would be headed, and Lovino saw an abandoned warehouse. _How __cliché._ He thought. _An abandoned warehouse._

Another man walked up to Lovino holding shackles. He placed the shackles on Lovino's wrists and ankles, and began walking him to the warehouse.

Lovino began thrashing his body, shaking the men off of him. He turned and sprinted as fast as he could, but with the shackles preventing him from extending his legs completely, and his hip aching, the men caught up to him easily. One man tackled Lovino from behind, forcing Lovino to fall face-first onto the gravel ground, cutting open his face.

They pulled Lovino to his feet, just to knock him back down with a powerful punch to the stomach. Lovino gasped for air, and coughed, tasting a little bit of blood from his bleeding gums.

He glared up at the men, "You bastards." He hissed.

The man standing in front of him gave him a powerful kick to the abdomen with his steel-toed boot. Lovino coughed then gasped for air again. The man bent down to Lovino's level. "Listen here, _Vargas, _we don't really like it when prisoners cuss at us, do we?" He growled, looking up at the other men.

The men agreed simultaneously. The same man, that must be the leader, grabbed Lovino by the jaw. "The last man who cussed at us too much lost his tongue."

Lovino didn't respond, but he narrowed his eyes, and grinded his teeth together in anger.

"Get him out of my sight." The "leader" growled, standing up.

The other men around Lovino pulled him to his feet, and lead him into the warehouse. Once inside, Lovino saw more men, all of them armed with a handgun or shotgun, smiling at him. They lead him to a steel door, that they opened quickly as he approached it. The men threw him into a small cement room. They slammed the door shut.

"Bastards." Lovino growled under his breath. Lovino inspected the steel door, trying to find an easy way to open it, but could find nothing. He turned and laid his clenched fists against the wall, then slowly laid his forehead on them with an angry sigh.

"Company?"

Lovino jumped backwards, turning mid-jump to slam his back against the wall to his right. His heart pounded as he searched for the source of the sound.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." A weak voice apologised.

Lovino followed the sound of the voice to a man that sat on the floor, his hands bound together by handcuffs instead of shackles. The man's blonde hair was matted and clumped, dried blood stained both his face and clothes, dark circles were beneath his dark green eyes, his jawline and cheekbones were very visible and his skin was as white as paper.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." The man concluded slowly.

"You look like one." Lovino replied awkwardly.

The man chuckled. "Do I?" He chuckled again. "I thought I'd look worse than a ghost."

Lovino's heart pounded against his chest and he slowly sat down so he wouldn't fall down from dizziness.

The man chuckled again. "Don't worry, chap… You won't end up like this if you cooperate and don't try and run."

"You've gotten past the door?"

"Oh, no. Whenever they open the bloody door I make a run for it…" The man took a deep breath with closed eyes. "Or when they take my out of this damn room… I run for my life…"

Lovino just stared at the man and the tired expression stained on his face.

"I actually got out of the warehouse once… If it weren't for those blasted dogs I would have gotten away."

"So that's why I only have one shoe? To track me with dogs?" Lovino asked.

The man opened his eyes and looked at Lovino's feet. "They took both of mine."

"Why's that?"

"They said I lost my shoe privileges after I got out of the warehouse that one time… It's probably so if I get out again I can't run as fast on the gravel."

Silence fell upon the two of them, and the unknown man's eyes closed and Lovino realized that he looked like he was fading into unconsciousness

"What's your name?" Lovino asked.

The man's eyes snapped open. He obviously forgot Lovino was there. "Arthur Kirkland." He mumbled.

"Lovino Vargas."

More silence. Lovnio pondered on what else to talk about. He ran his fingers through his dark auburn hair, and let out a loud sigh. "What are you here for?"

Arthur paused, looking over at Lovino, then chuckled again. "Oh, because I stole from a convenient store." He said sarcastically. "They want money… Money my family doesn't have."

A different subject. "What's your family like?" Lovino asked.

Arthur's eyes lit up in blissful peace, and a small smile formed on his blood-stained lips. "Hopefully you won't judge, but I have a husband…"

"I don't judge, my fratello- I mean brother- is dating another man."

Arthur blinked, the happiness in his eyes growing larger. "His name is Francis… Bloody frog…" Arthur let out a gentle sigh. "I have two adopted sons, twins… Alfred and Matthew…"

"What are your sons like?"

Arthur's smile grew even larger. "Alfred… Alfred is very loud… But he is so accepting and kind… And Matthew… He is so sweet and caring… He's quiet… Even though they seem like complete opposites… They love each other and they're very similar in many ways."

"How are they similar?" Lovino asked

"They love adventure and they both have a soft spot for nature and animals…" Arthur looked up at the ceiling and blinked a few times then he looked back down at Lovino. "What about you? What's your family like?"

"Well I have my twin brother, Feliciano. He's an idiot, but I still love him."

Arthur chuckled. "I bet Matthew would say the same about Alfred."

Lovino smiled at Arthur, then continued. "Then there's Feli's boyfriend, Ludwig, and his brother, Gilbert- both of them are German. Then there's their cousin, a personal 'friend' of mine, Roderich, who is Austrian, and his Hungarian wife, Elizabeva, then her Polish cousin, Feliks, and his Lithuanian boyfriend, Toris."

"Wow. Your family comes from everywhere." Arthur laughed, then coughed a little. "Well," Arthur began. "I think I'm going to get some sleep."

"That's sounds like a good idea."

.

_Day 2_

Lovino woke up and saw no one across the room from where he laid. He sat up quickly, and scanned the room, but there was still no Arthur. _Poor bastard._ Lovino thought. _They killed the poor bastard._ Lovino straightened his position. _How long until they kill me? _He shook his head, then stood up. He saw a small tray of food sitting in front of the door, two small bowls of soup and two small cups of water.

Lovino began to eat the terrible soup, and sip off of one of the water cups. He left one bowl of soup just in case Arthur returned, but he was pretty sure he wouldn't. The door flew open, and they threw Arthur back in. Arthur mumbled something, but Lovino couldn't make out what he said.

The men left the room, and Lovino went over to Arthur, who was very hurt.

"Arthur!" Lovino yelled.

Arthur just chuckled. "What?" He looked up at Lovino.

Lovino saw wet blood trailing down his pale face, and fresh bloodstains on his torn green sweatervest. Lovino asked the stupidest question. "Are you okay."

"Brilliant, how are you?" Arthur replied with a smile.

Lovino couldn't tell whether or not Arthur was being sarcastic or if he was delusional, so he just stared at him. "I'm fine." He finally said.

Arthur gave him another smile, then pushed himself to his feet, and he stumbled back to his spot on the floor. He leaned his shoulder on the corner of the room, and his legs were stretched out in front of him.

"If you would be so kind, and slide that tray over here?" Arthur said, pointing at the tray with both of his bound hands.

Lovino looked over at the tray, then slid it over to Arthur, who grabbed the bowl awkwardly, put it to his bloodstained lips, and drank the soup quickly. Once finished, Arthur set the bowl down with a sigh, and wiped the last remnants of the horrible soup from his mouth with his blood streaked sleeve.

Lovino was hit with a sudden strike of fear when he saw the pain in Arthur's eyes, the blood on his clothes, the bruises on his face. Lovino wiped nervous sweat from his forehead.

"What's wrong, chap?" Arthur asked in his thick British accent.

"What?"

"You look… Scared…"

Lovino stared at Arthur, knowing his hazel eyes were full of fear. "Why are they hurting you like this?"

Arthur's dark green eyes looked away from Lovino, then slowly closed. "They want money… Money I don't have." Arthur shuddered.

"Well they want money from me too. Are they just waiting for suspense or what?"

Arthur didn't chuckle like he did with most of the questions Lovino asked, he just opened tired, pain-filled eyes and looked at the floor. "Depends." He whispered.

"On what?" Lovino demanded.

Arthur looked up at Lovino. "Do they want your money, or are they using you?"

"Using me? You mean for ransom?"

Arthur did not speak, he only nodded slowly.

Lovino closed his eyes tightly, anger overwhelming all of his other emotions. "Those bastards are using me." Lovino growled through grit teeth. "They want Roderich's money, don't they?"

Arthur was still looking at Lovino. "Well personally…" Arthur trailed off.

"Personally what?" Lovino asked, trying to calm his anger so he didn't take it out on poor Arthur.

Arthur looked away from Lovino and to the steel door. "Nevermind." He mumbled.

Lovino narrowed his eyes at Arthur, right as Arthur looked back at him. "What?" Arthur hissed.

Lovino looked away. "Nothing."

Although Lovino wasn't looking at Arthur, he could still feel his eyes on him. Lovino heard Arthur let out an exasperated huff, then the room fell silent.

Lovino then realised how much they had in common. They were both sarcastic, prideful, and short-tempered. But as Lovino looked back over at Arthur, who was now repositioning himself on the grey concrete floor, he realised a major difference between the two of them. Arthur was a good man, a family man who didn't deserve any of this. And Lovino was an asshole, someone who deserves bad luck. Lovino chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Arthur asked, truly curious.

"A nice family man is the one getting hurt, and the asshole is only getting threatened." Lovino shook his head.

Arthur looked over at him, puzzled. "And you're not a family man?"

"Hell no."

"Really? So yesterday, when you were telling me about your family, the way your eyes lit up in peace was a mere delusion of mine and nothing more?"

Lovino stared at Arthur blankly. He hadn't realized how much peace he was in when he was talking about his family and his friends.

"But let me guess," Arthur began. "You're the type who pretends not to care, but is actually very loyal and protective?"

"What? No." Lovino shook his head. "No."

Arthur shrugged. "So if this Feliciano was in here, you wouldn't be freaking out or anything because your brother is missing?"

Lovino's heart pounded against his chest and both adrenaline and fear shot through his veins at the mere thought of Feliciano getting captured, or even worse, killed. But this was a hypothetical situation created by Arthur just to prove a point. After calming down and sensing his own defeat, Lovino gave in. "Yes. I pretend not to care." Lovino blinked. "How could you tell so easily?"

"Ah, my father was like that. Never told me he loved me, but whenever I came home from school with a black eye, my father would nearly kill the kid and his parents."

Lovino laughed at how spot on Arthur was to his personality. Strict but protective. Lovino looked at Arthur, who was now laying with his eyes closed, but Lovino could tell he was not asleep just yet. Arthur's skin seemed paler than it was when he was thrown back in the small room, and Lovino noticed that Arthur needed more rest, even though the two of them had just gotten on a topic that didn't depress them.

"Arthur, you need rest." Lovino said.

Arthur raised his thick eyebrows. "Really? You don't say?"

"Just get some sleep." Lovino instructed.

"Yes, Mum." Arthur rolled onto his side, turning his back to Lovino.

.

_Day 3_

Lovino sat up slowly off the cement floor, aching pain shooting up and down his back. Lovino grunted, placing his left hand on his lower back. He heard Arthur chuckling quietly at him. Lovino snapped his head over, anger flooding over him, and glared at Arthur. Arthur's chuckling turned into a coughing fit, so Lovino swallowed his anger and asked that same stupid question. "Are you okay?"

Arthur continued his coughing, but nodded multiple times and he was covering his mouth with his blood soaked hands. Arthur's coughing stopped, and he let out a pain-induced sigh.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lovino asked.

Arthur gazed at Lovino with his dark eyes only half open. "No."

Arthur's answer took Lovino a little off guard. Lovino repositioned himself against the wall, his hip aching in opposition, and he held Arthur's gaze with a sympathetic one.

"Well what else did you expect me to say?" Arthur asked weakly.

"Um..."

Arthur closed his eyes and breathed through the pain he was in. "Then stop asking if I'm okay… Because I'm not."

"Fine… Is there anything I can do to help?"

Arthur didn't move a muscle in his whole body. Finally he opened his eyes that were shining from the tears that were built up in them. He looked down and blinked away the tears. "Not unless you can get them to stop threatening my sons. Because as long as my family isn't harmed, I am okay."

_He really is a family man,_ Lovino thought.

Arthur closed his eyes again, and leaned his head against the wall.

_New topic, Lovino, think of something else to talk about._

Lovino opened his mouth to ask Arthur a question that would probably depress him, but the steel door swung open, and two men entered the concrete room. One man cocked a handgun and pointed it at Lovino, the other kicked Arthur into a laying position on the ground, and slammed his foot down on Arthur's abdomen, knocking the wind out of him.

Lovino heard the sound of men struggling and the yelling from a familiar voice. The large group of men pushed another victim into the small, grey, blood streaked concrete chamber. All of the men left, then slammed the door shut and locked it.

"_Verdammt nochmal!_" The new prisoner yelled, slamming both of his fists onto the cold metal door.

Lovino's eyebrows narrowed as he looked at captive. "Ludwig?"

Ludwig spun around quickly, and slammed his back against the door. Arthur began to laugh hysterically, then began another coughing fit, Ludwig didn't seem to notice though.

"Lovino!" Ludwig exclaimed, "Mein Gott, Lovino. Don't scare me like that!"

"I thought you would have saw me." Lovino replied.

"I-" Ludwig looked over at Arthur, whose coughing fit seemed to grow worse. Ludwig gave Arthur a sympathetic look. "Mein Gott, are you okay?" He asked.

Arthur didn't respond until his coughing stopped. "No." He whispered painfully.

Ludwig shifted his weight to his left side. "Anything you need me to do?"

"A nice glass of whiskey would be perfect, could you go get me one?" Arthur requested.

Ludwig glanced up at the blank ceiling with his sky blue eyes, then back down at Arthur. "I'm afraid not. Anything else?"

Arthur's looked directly up at Ludwig, then blinked slowly. "Damn, I could have used a drink. Um, could you just stand there and look pretty?"

Ludwig blinked and shifted his weight uncomfortably. He gave Lovino a pleading glance, then looked back to Arthur.

Lovino smiled. "Sarcasm flows like water in here."

Ludwig laughed. "Ja, especially with you in here." Ludwig said, pointing at Lovino. Ludwig then glanced back to Arthur. "Oh, excuse my manners. I am Ludwig Beilschmidt." Ludwig held out his right shackled hand for Arthur to shake.

Arthur cleared his throat. "Arthur Kirkland. And uh..." Arthur chuckled nervously, "I would shake your hand but…" Arthur trailed off and revealed his blood-splattered hands. "I don't want to get my blood all over your hands."

Lovino saw Ludwig's eyes grow sympathetic. "Oh." Ludwig said, dropping his hands. "Why are you so hurt? I mean, Lovino doesn't look too bad."

Arthur paused, his eyes growing weary. He was clearly sick of talking about this topic.

"Uh, nevermind." Ludwig said, sitting down in the corner to the right of Lovino.

"They want my money. It has become obvious that they're using Lovino due to how little they beat on him."

"Using him for what?" Ludwig looked from Arthur to Lovino.

"Ransom." Lovino concluded.

An eerie silence engulfed the chamber. Lovino glanced around the small room awkwardly, unsure of what to look at. Lovino's eyes moved to Ludwig's face that was twisted in confusion.

"Wait a minute." Ludwig said, breaking the awkward silence as if it were glass. "Why don't you just pay?"

Arthur's eyes flooded with a mixture of pain and anger. "I am a bloody school librarian that is married to a cook, and we have two sons. We don't have nearly enough money. They're asking for too much."

Lovino watched Arthur, who looked like he was about to break down and cry. His energy was low, his body was weak and beaten, his face was tired and bruised, and his eyes were dark and stained with the look of terror and agony.

"There's something else wrong besides the physical pain you're in." Ludwig said.

Lovino was never one to "sense the mood" but Ludwig was evidently asking too much. Lovino glared at Ludwig. "Stop pryi-"

"They know where my sons are." Arthur interrupted.

Lovino snapped his head back to Arthur. "What?"

"They're threatening my sons…" Arthur's eyes shimmered with fear. "And there's nothing I can do!" He yelled.

Lovino and Ludwig fell silent, unable to figure out a way to comfort poor Arthur.

"I'm sorry." Arthur said. "I'm-I'm just…" Arthur trailed off, laid down and turned his back on Lovino and Ludwig.

Lovino walked over to Ludwig. "Poor bastard." He whispered so only Ludwig could hear.

Ludwig gave a slow nod, then shook his head. "So… How are we getting out of here?"

Lovino scowled at the steel door that was in the way of escape. "Get past that." Lovino instructed, pointing at the heavy metal obstacle.

.

_Day 4_

"How many times do I have to tell you? I don't have the money!" Lovino heard Arthur yell.

Lovino snapped his eyes open, then sat up quickly, his back popping multiple times. Lovino glared at the men who were standing in the doorway.

"How many times do we have to tell ya to get the money? We don't care how, just hand it over!" A man hissed back to Arthur, who was sitting on his knees, his green eyes blazing with anger.

"I can't if I'm in _here!_" Arthur growled back, narrowing his eyes.

The man who was yelling earlier, a man with dark brown hair and a long scar traveling down the left side of his face and across his jawline, kicked poor Arthur in the stomach, forcing the air out of his lungs and throwing Arthur into a violent coughing fit.

"Hey!" Lovino yelled, pushing himself up onto his shackled feet.

A different man, a light brown haired man, cocked and pointed a handgun at Ludwig, and Lovino froze.

"Get down." The scarred man hissed. "I can do worse to your brother. All I need to do is get 'em here."

Lovino got back down on the floor, anger, hate, and fear overwhelming him. He wanted to kill these men, every last one of them. For threatening Feliciano, for bringing Ludwig here, and for hurting Arthur. But Lovino stayed on the ground, glaring up at them silently.

"Where was I?" The scarred man asked, looking back to Arthur, who was still coughing.

After Arthur finished his coughing fit, the scarred man squatted down to his level, and grabbed Arthur by the jaw. "Listen here, Kirkland, you're gonna to get us our money soon, right? I wouldn't want somethin' bad to happen."

Arthur's eyes filled with fear, but he said nothing and did not move.

"Right, Arthur?" The scarred man repositioned his hand from Arthur's jaw line, to his throat, choking Arthur.

Arthur ended up prying the man's hand off of his throat with his bound hands, then began coughing again. The scarred man then stood, gave Arthur one last kick to the abdomen, then left, along with the other men who slammed and locked the door behind them.

The room was quiet, besides the sound of Arthur coughing. Lovino and Ludwig stood and quickly made their way to Arthur, who was laying on his side on the ground. Ludwig helped Arthur sit up and lean against the wall. Arthur's coughing calmed down, and he opened his green eyes, that looked so terrified.

"What's wrong? What do you need me to do?" Lovino demanded.

"Go back in time and stop me from being an idiot and letting myself get captured like this." Arthur whispered. "But that's impossible…" Arthur's eyes widened and darted towards the door when the muffled voices coming from the other side grew louder and louder. Lovino could almost make out what they were saying, until there was silence that was followed by laughter.

The steel door unlocked and flew open, and there stood the scarred man. "Oh, Arthur!"

Arthur's entire body tensed, and his eyes widened even more.

"I've got a little present for you!" The scarred man almost sang. He threw something forward, that stumbled into the room and fell on its knees.

"No!" Arthur screamed in terror.

"Daddy!" The little boy exclaimed.

Arthur pushed himself forward, and wrapped the boy in his arms by putting his bound hands over the boy's head and against his back. Arthur turned himself and the boy to where he was in between the scarred man and who was probably his son.

"No Matthew! You can't be here!" Arthur cried.

"Maybe this'll give you some more motivation to get that money you owe me." The scarred man laughed, then slammed the door so hard it echoed loudly in the small room.

Lovino watched as Arthur unwrapped his arms from around Matthew, and gently held Matthew's head in his hands. "Are you hurt? Did they hurt you?" Arthur demanded.

"My head hurts a little…" Matthew replied quietly, rubbing the area on his head that was hidden beneath his long dirty blonde hair.

Arthur inspected the area with his restrained hands. "You're not bleeding…" Arthur exhaled.

"Papa, Al and I have been so worried. We didn't know where you were." Matthew explained.

Arthur gave Matthew a fake smile, but Lovino saw tears build up in his eyes. Lovino ran his fingers through his dark auburn hair with a sigh, then leaned against the wall. _Those bastards._ Lovino thought.

"You shouldn't be here. I would be happy to see you if we were anywhere but here." Arthur mumbled to his son.

Matthew hugged Arthur tightly. "Daddy, I was so scared for you. Papa thought you were dead… Al and I told him that you will never die... but he's just been so sad…"

"I'm okay." Lovino heard Arthur lie.

"Weren't you scared, Daddy." Matthew replied.

"A little, yes. But-but look," Arthur said, pointing to Lovino and Ludwig. "I made some new friends. Lovino," Arthur gestured to Lovino, and Matthew looked over at him, "he's a bit rough around the edges, but he's protective. And-and there's Ludwig. Ludwig is very big, strong and intimidating, but he really is nice. Also, Lovino is from Italy, isn't that interesting?"

Matthew nodded.

"And Ludwig is from Germany. You know where Italy and Germany are, don't you." Arthur asked.

"Yeah… Europe, right?" Matthew looked up at his father.

"Yes, Matthew… And I'm pretty sure that they would teach you some German or Italian, if-if you asked." Arthur replied, tears still in his eyes.

A terrible silence entered the room, but was soon broken by Matthew. "Lud-wig?"

"Ja?" Ludwig answered quickly.

"If it's no trouble, could you teach me some German?"

Ludwig gave Matthew a slight smile and slid down the wall, closer to Matthew's level. "What would you like to know?"

Matthew thought for a minute. "Hello, I guess."

"Hello? In German that would be '_Hallo.'_"

"_Hallo._" Matthew repeated.

"And goodbye is '_Auf wiedersehen.'_"

Matthew looked up at Ludwig puzzled.

"_Auf._" Ludwig began.

"_Auf._" Matthew repeated.

"_Wieder-_"

"_Wieder-_"

"_Sehen_."

"_Sehen_."

"_Auf wiedersehen._"

"_Auf wieder-sehen._"

Lovino smiled at Ludwig teaching the young boy, but he was furious. If he was strong enough, he'd break down the steel door, and kill every last captor in this damn warehouse. It was one thing to separate a man from his family, but it was another to bring his son into the mix, just out of spite. Lovino grinded his teeth together and clenched his fists so hard he was white-knuckled. No one deserved this kind of torture. No one.

"Lo-vi-no?"

Lovino's attention was brought back to the conversation by Matthew's quiet voice.

"Um, yes?" Lovino asked, looking down at Matthew.

"If you don't mind me asking, could you teach me 'hello' and 'goodbye' in Italian?" Matthew questioned, looking at the cement ground.

"Hello is '_Ciao'_"

"_Ciao._" Matthew whispered.

"And goodbye is '_Arrivederci.'_" Lovino sat down on the floor, level to Matthew.

Slowly, Matthew repeated the foreign word. "_Arri-ve-der-ci…_?"

"_Molto buona._" Lovino complemented.

Matthew looked up at him in confusion. "_Molto buona?_"

"Oh, sorry. _Molto buona_ means 'very good.'" Lovino explained.

Matthew gave Lovino a sheepish smile, then walked back to his father.

"Have you learnt enough foreign words for now?" Arthur asked while Matthew calmly walked over. Arthur's eyes flashed with fear. "Do you know where Alfred and Francis are?"

Matthew thought for a moment, glancing up at the ceiling with his light purple eyes. "Papa was at home, and Al was still at school. I don't know where he is now, but he's probably being weird."

"Still at school?" Lovino chimed in.

"Yeah." Matthew looked up at Lovino.

"Were you kidnapped at school?" Ludwig asked.

Matthew looked at the ground and rubbed the spot on his head where he said they hurt him. "Yeah. The office lady called me up, and there was a guy in there… He said that Papa got in a car wreck and was at the doctor. He said they were work friends."

Arthur closed his eyes and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Daddy." Matthew whimpered, hugging his father.

Arthur wrapped his arms around Matthew the way he did earlier. "You don't have to be sorry. He tricked you into going with him. It's not your fault Matthew. He-"

Arthur silenced and Lovino jerked his head in the direction of the sound of screeching metal. The door was unlocking. Then started to open, slowly and ominously. Arthur sat up, putting Matthew back on the floor, and moving his son into the corner. Arthur slowly slid in front of Matthew, protecting him. Lovino moved a bit closer to Arthur and Matthew, and Ludwig followed.

"Arthur, buddy!" The man with the scar called. "How 'bout you and me have a little chat?"

Arthur's jaw clenched as he glared up at the man.

"Don't make me come in and get you, 'cuz I might mistake you for your son."

Arthur stood quickly. "Don't. I'm-I'm coming."

"No, Daddy!" Matthew screamed, running over to his father.

Arthur turned around and gingerly held Matthew's head in his blood-cracked hands. "Matthew, you need to stay in here. Please, just stay here."

Matthew stayed where he was as Arthur walked to the men.

"Daddy…" Matthew whispered.

The door slammed closed, and Matthew began to sob.

_Dammit!_ Lovino thought. _I'm not good with kids… I wonder if Ludwig is._ Lovino turned to Ludwig, who was running his fingers through his previously slicked back blonde hair that has begun to fall in his face.

Ludwig looked down at Lovino, with pleading blue eyes. "Maybe you should calm him down. I'm not good with kids."

Lovino leaned forward. "And you think I am? I'm a jackass. If I'm not good with adults, I'm definitely not good with kids."

"Daddy!" Matthew cried, running over to the steel door.

"Well we have to calm him down." Ludwig whispered.

Lovino sighed, and walked over to Matthew, his hip aching. "Matthew. Matthew come here."

Matthew looked over at him, tears still rolling down his face.

Lovino held out his hand. "Come here." He said, trying to make his voice sound kind.

Matthew grabbed his hand, and Lovino lead him away from the door, and back against the far wall. "Matthew, I need you to listen to me."

"I don't know you!" Matthew yelled.

"Sure you do, I am Lovino, remember? Your father's friend."

Matthew backed away from Lovino. "The scarred man said he was Papa's friend, but he hurt my head and I woke up here."

Lovino looked up at Ludwig for help.

"Matthew, Lovino and I aren't going to hurt you." Ludwig reminded.

"They're hurting my Daddy!" Matthew screamed, trying to run back to the door, but Ludwig caught him.

"Matthew!" Lovino raised his voice and Matthew froze. Lovino took a long deep breath, calming himself so his voice wasn't so loud. "Your father is a very strong man. I've only known him for what I can guess is a few days, but he is very strong."

"They'll kill him! Just like Papa feared!"

"No. They're not going to kill him." Ludwig said, shaking his head.

"Listen, Matthew." Lovino began. "They might hurt him, but Arthur is strong and he'll be fine. He'll be okay. You just need to calm down. Your father said to stay in here. Do you know why he said that?"

Matthew shook his head.

"In here, Ludwig and I can protect you. We can keep you safe."

Matthew didn't respond, but he leaned forward and started to cry into Lovino's brownish-red shirt. Lovino stayed still, then slowly raised his hands and rubbed Matthew's back.

Time passed slowly, and Lovino started to worry. Usually Arthur isn't gone this long. Usually he's back by now. He glanced at Matthew, who was leaning against the cold wall, tear-streaked and scared.

The door began to unlock and open. Lovino walked awkwardly with his shackled feet in front of Matthew and Ludwig stood, but didn't move. Men that Lovino didn't recognise threw poor Arthur back into the badly lit chamber. Arthur stumbled, and ran his back into the wall to Lovino's left then slid down it slowly. The door closed.

"Daddy!" Matthew yelled, running over to Arthur.

Arthur extended his arms and caught Matthew before he could hug him. "Matthew-"

"You're hurt." Matthew interrupted Arthur.

Lovino saw Arthur freeze, staring right into Matthew's lavender eyes. Arthur cleared his throat. "They did hurt me… But, we'll be fine. No matter how scary things get, we'll be fine."

Lovino glared at the steel door, hoping that the men on the other sides could feel his gaze and sense his outrage. "I'll kill those _bastardi_ for doing this!" Lovino hissed, then he quickly looked and pointed at Matthew. "Don't say that."

Matthew looked from his father to Lovino, innocently. "Say what?"

"Uh… Nevermind." Lovino sat back on the cold ground.

The room almost went mute after that. The only sound that was made or heard was the raspy breathing from poor Arthur. Lovino looked around the room after a long time to see Ludwig sitting upright with his eyes closed, Matthew asleep on Arthur's shoulder, and Arthur running his restrained hands through Matthew's long dirty blonde hair.

.

_Day 5_

Lovino jerked awake to the sound of the large, heavy metal door slamming closed. Lovino sat up quickly to see a tray with four bowls of horrible soup and four small cups of water. Lovino laid down slowly as throbbing pain rippled through his back. He breathed through grit teeth when he gently laid his back on the stone floor.

Arthur was chuckling quietly, but not hard enough to send him into another hacking fit. Lovino glared over at Arthur.

"And I thought my back hurt yesterday…" Ludwig grumbled.

Arthur continued chuckling. Lovino then realized that Arthur must have been in a better mood or he successfully distracted himself from the thought that Matthew could be killed at any time.

"You should be in here for a couple months, then you can complain about your back." Arthur said sarcastically.

Lovino gave Arthur a sarcastic smile, then forced himself to sit up.

"My back hurts." Matthew mumbled, still leaning his head on Arthur's shoulder.

Arthur turned his head towards Matthew. "I'm sorry, my son, but there's not much I can do this time."

Ludwig stood, his back popping loud enough for everyone to hear, and he grunted in pain when bent down and grabbed the tray of food. He walked over to Lovino and stopped, waiting for him to choose his soup and water.

"_Grazie._" Lovino mumbled, choosing a bowl and cup.

Ludwig paced over to Arthur and his son, who gratefully took their meals. "Thank you." They said almost simultaneously.

Ludwig nodded, then walked back to where he was sitting and slowly slid down the wall and began to eat.

So far the morning was going well. Actually better than any other morning that Lovino has had since he was shoved in this cell. But something was bound to happen because something _always_ happens, and Lovino just couldn't get past the feeling that something horrible was going to happen today.

"All right." Lovino hissed after a few uneventful hours. "Is anyone sharing my bad feeling, or am I just crazy?" Lovino asked, but he was silently begging that Ludwig, Arthur and even Matthew would all agree that he was crazy.

Arthur did not respond, but he gave Lovino a terrified gaze. Lovino looked at Ludwig whose eyes were wide in fear. _Shit,_ Lovino thought.

But more time crept past, slowly and ominously.

Without warning the, the metal door was thrown open, and the scarred man paced into the room and stopped in front of Arthur, who was concealing Matthew behind him.

"Move." The man hissed.

Arthur's eyes widened in fear. "What?"

"You heard me, Kirkland. Move!"

Arthur narrowed his eyes in anger. "No." He hissed through grit teeth.

The scarred man smiled and took a step back. A few other men jumped forward, and pried Arthur off the wall. "No!" Arthur screamed in anger and fear.

Ludwig jumped forward and punched one of the men with his right shackled hand, knocking him out cold. Lovino tripped the other man with his feet.

The scarred man put a gun to Matthew's head and pulled back the hammer, cocking it.

Everyone in the room froze.

"Kirkland. Vargas. Beilschmidt. On your knees with your hands on your head, or Matt's brains will be all over the wall." The scarred captor hissed, glaring back at Arthur.

Everyone did as they were told, exactly the way they were told to do it, so they all fell to their knees and put their hands on their head.

"Daddy…" Matthew whimpered.

The man with the scar repositioned his finger on the trigger. "Shut it, kid! Unless you really want a bullet in your brain!"

Matthew didn't make another sound, but his entire body was trembling, and silent tears rolled down his face.

"We did as we were told, you can put the gun down." Lovino hissed.

"Wow, you really wanna kill Kirkland's son, don't ya, Vargas?" The man glared over his shoulder at Lovino.

"Why the hell would I?" Lovino yelled.

"Then shut your damn trap, and I won't shoot his brains out!" The man screamed, his voice echoing through the room.

The scarred man snapped, and another capturer walked forward, grabbed Matthew by the wrist, and pulled him out of the room.

"No!" Arthur screamed, but all of the men ignored him and slammed the door shut. Arthur ran forward, as fast as Lovno has seen him move, and slammed himself against the door. "No, Matthew, no! Leave my son alone! Don't hurt my son!"

Lovino and Ludwig stood slowly and stared at Arthur who was trying to pry the door open. He clawed at the metal with his fingers, and ended up cutting open his hands on the cold door.

Ludwig ran forward and awkwardly grabbed Arthur with his shackled hands. "Arthur!" Ludwig yelled. "Arthur, you can't open the door! Are you even hearing me?"

"They'll hurt him! They'll kill him!" Arthur cried.

Lovino ran forward and helped Ludwig. "You don't know that!" Lovino looked at Arthur. His face was twisted in fear, his eyes were pale and full of the tears that endlessly streamed down his face.

Ludwig and Lovino managed to pull Arthur away from the door that he was clawing at.

"They'll kill him!" Arthur repeated.

"They probably aren't hurting him… They're probably doing this to psychologically torture you." Ludwig reassured, still holding onto Arthur.

"Help!" I high pitched scream that belonged to Matthew called out.

Arthur froze, staring at the large heavy obstacle keeping him from his son.

"Daddy!"

Arthur broke free from Ludwig's grasp, and ran to the door. "Matthew!" He screamed louder than anything Lovino had heard come from Arthur, who was prying at the door again, cutting open his fingers even more than they already were.

Ludwig and Lovino pulled him from the door again, back to the far wall and sat him on the ground, Ludwig still holding onto him.

"Arthur," Lovino began, getting in front of him. "Get a hold of yourself! They're not going to kill Matthew!"

"How do you know?" Arthur looked up at Lovino with pleading eyes.

"They're trying to scare you, intimidate you. They're showing you what they can do to try and get you to cooperate." Lovino explained.

"I-I-I-..I-I…" Arthur clutched his chest with his hands.

"You what?" Lovino demanded.

"I can't breathe!" Arthur whispered.

Lovino stepped back. "Are you having a heart attack?"

Arthur shook his head multiple times, tears sliding off his face and wetting the ground.

"Just take deep breaths." Ludwig instructed.

"Trying…" Arthur choked.

"Ludwig, let go of him so he can!" Lovino yelled.

"He'll try and pry the door open again if I do."

"No… I can barely feel my legs…" Arthur murmured.

Slowly, Ludwig let go of his awkward hold on Arthur whose breathing ability didn't change.

"They'll… kill… him…" Arthur breathed out, his entire body was shaking.

Lovino's eyes widened and his eyebrows raised. "He's going into shock…" Lovino looked at Ludwig in horror, then they both stared at poor Arthur. _And I thought calming down his son was hard,_ Lovino thought to himself.

"They'll kill him… Just like Peter…" Arthur muttered.

Ludwig leaned over to Lovino. "Peter?" He asked.

"Oxenstierna. He was on the news." Lovino answered.

"They'll get Alfred too!" Arthur screamed.

"What? No, Arthur, don't think like that. Keep some hope." Ludwig instructed.

Arthur laughed almost insanely. "Hope? They'll kill my whole family!" He screamed before sobbing violently into Ludwig's black shirt.

Arthur began to calm down right as the door swung open. Arthur flinched, trying to jump onto his feet and run out the door to save Matthew, but Lovino put his hand on Arthur's chest, keeping him where he was. Lovino glared over his shoulder at the men and grinded his teeth in anger. An unrecognisable man smirked at Lovino, threw Matthew in and closed the door without a word.

Arthur pushed his way from Lovino and Ludwig and wrapped his arms around his son, bringing him to the corner furthest from the door. Matthew was tear streaked and bruised, but besides that he wasn't too hurt.

"Matthew, what did they do to you? Where do you hurt? Are you bleeding?" Arthur questioned rapidly.

Matthew paused before answering, wiping tears from his eyes. "My head and face hurts. And I'm not bleeding, they didn't scratch me, but-but they did hit me."

Arthur unwrapped his arms from around Matthew and looked at his son's bruised face. Arthur wiped tears from his own eyes, but they were quickly replaced. "I'm so sorry, Matthew. I'm so sorry."

Matthew sniffled. "It's okay, Daddy."

Arthur leaned against the wall, closing his eyes slowly. "It's okay, Matthew. It's okay, Matthew. It's okay, Matthew. It's okay, Matthew. It's okay, Matthew…"

"Daddy."

"Yes? What is it Matthew? What do you need me to do?" Arthur's eyes snapped open.

"You keep saying the same thing." Matthew squeaked.

"What?"

Matthew looked up at his father. "You keep saying 'It's okay, Matthew' over and over again."

"It is okay, Matthew. You'll be okay. You'll be fine."

"You will too, right Daddy?"

Arthur fell silent, then closed his eyes slowly again. "Just get some rest, Matthew. Today was very scary for you…" Arthur began to continuously run his fingers through Matthew's long dirty blonde hair, calming his son who slowly drifted into sleep.

Lovino slowly sat down, his eyes locked on the scene before him. This was the worst pain Arthur had been in since Lovino was thrown into the tiny room; his son was getting hurt, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He turned to Ludwig. "We _have_ to get out of here."

Ludwig nodded in agreement.

.

_Day 6_

Lovino paced in the badly lit cell that he was getting used to being in. He was used to the damp air, the cold draft, the somewhat flickering light hanging by a single chain off of the plain ceiling, the hard cement floor that he slept on, sat on, ate on. His hip was hurting worse with each passing day, but his back was getting used to the floor.

Lovino looked over at Arthur, still pacing. Arthur was still holding his son with his eyes still closed, still running his weak fingers through Matthew's sandy blonde hair. Matthew's pale purple eyes were half open and the bruises on his young, scared face were more visible than the day before.

As Lovino paced, he looked down at Ludwig, who was also sitting on the floor. Ludwig was watching Lovino with his sky blue eyes as Lovino walked quickly and endlessly from one side of the room to the other. Ludwig closed his eyes with a sigh, then ran his fingers through his light blonde hair, that was now very messy and hanging down in his face.

"Would you stop pacing?" Ludwig growled.

Lovino stopped in his tracks, spun around, and glared down at Ludwig. "Oh, _mi scusi_," Lovino hissed sarcastically. "but I'm trying to figure out how the hell were going to get out of here!"

Ludwig returned the glare. "And you think I haven't?"

Anger boiled inside of Lovino. "Well you haven't come up with anything!"

Ludwig stood up, narrowing his eyes. "Neither have you."

Lovino clenched his fists, barely keeping enough of a hold on his temper so he wouldn't punch Ludwig or yell every insult at him that was under the sun. Lovino began pacing again.

Ludwig caught Lovino by the shoulders in mid-pace. "Stop." He hissed. "You're driving me insane."

Lovino shook Ludwig off of him and spun around quickly. "Don't touch me."

"Stop that pacing."

Lovino took a step forward, getting into Ludwig's face. "Make me, you potato bastard."

Ludwig glared down at Lovino, clenching his fists.

"For God's sake, would you two just stop?" Arthur yelled from across the room.

Lovino and Ludwig looked over at Arthur. "Huh?" They said simultaneously.

"How about this, both of you swallow your testosterone, calm down, and think! We're trapped in a small room together, we don't have the time to fight like a bunch of fifteen year old boys trying to prove who deserves the girl!" Arthur hissed. "Put your bloody heads together!"

"Maybe we would figure this out faster if you were helping instead of petting your son." Lovino snarled, gesturing towards Matthew with his hands.

Arthur glared at Lovino. "I'm sorry, Princess, but I am. Do you really think I'm going to sit here and yell at you, but do absolutely nothing? Do you really think that I can't multitask to help figure this out and keep my seven year old son calm?"

Arthur's glare calmed, then he closed his eyes. Lovino looked back at the door. "How are we going to get the door open?"

"No _verdammt_ clue." Ludwig replied, shaking his head.

"Well, what do we have in here?" Arthur chimed in.

"There are the four of us." Lovino began.

"And a light bulb and chain…" Ludwig finished.

Lovino looked up a Ludwig. "We could unscrew the light bulb, break the glass, then use the broken light bulb glass that is still attached to kill someone."

Ludwig looked down at Lovino in confusion. "I don't think that would kill someone."

"Depends where you aim." Arthur added.

Ludwig nodded, then looked back to Lovino. "How can we use the light bulb to open the door?"

Lovino opened his mouth to say something, then realized he had no clue, so he closed his mouth and looked back at the steel door that began to open. "_Accidenti!_" Lovino yelled.

"Vargas." The scarred man called. "Come here. We're takin' ya home, if your family cooperates."

"What?" Lovino asked.

"If your family cooperates, they will give me the money, and you get to go home to them."

Lovino didn't sense a lie in his voice, but he still was suspicious, especially after all that this man has done after many days. But Lovino slowly took steps forward, then stopped. "What about them?" He said, looking back at Ludwig, Arthur and Matthew.

"Ludwig will be returned once your family cooperates."

"What about the Kirklands?" Lovino asked.

"You aren't affiliated with them." The scarred man hissed.

"What about the Kirklands?" Lovino yelled.

"Just go." Arthur's weak voice ordered. "Go."

Lovino looked back at Matthew and Arthur in terror, then gave Ludwig the same glance. Lovino slowly followed the scarred man who lead him out of the room, through a long corridor, then to the outside. The sun was brighter that Lovino had last seen of it, and he squinted to protect his eyes from it's light. He has gone many days in the poorly lit room without seeing a hint of sunlight.

The man walked Lovino to a black car with black tinted windows, and they shoved him into it. A woman sat beside him, a handgun pointed at the floor. She threw a bag over Lovino's head, blocking out every ounce of light Lovino could have possibly seen. The car's engine started, and they drove away from the warehouse.

.

_Day 7_

Lovino's hip and both of his knees were aching from the lack of movement they've had over the trip. The car swerved tightly, then rolled to a stop. The engine cut and people began exiting the vehicle. They pulled Lovino out of the vehicle and ripped the sack off his head.


	10. Broken Hearts

Chapter 10

Broken Hearts

Roderich walked past the strip mall with his left hand in his pocket and his right clutching onto the briefcase that was heavy with carrying the Edelstein fortune. His heart was pounding against his chest and fear was overwhelming him. He swallowed hard as he turned into the alleyway, trying desperately to act casual. He stopped and scanned the shadows. Elizabeva was around here somewhere, but even he wasn't supposed to know so he couldn't give her away. Roderich closed his eyes, took a deep breath then stepped forward, opening his dark purple eyes that shimmered with terror.

He paced surrounded by unfamiliar shapes and shadows. He breathed in, trying to calm his shaking body, but the cold autumn air that filled his lungs did nothing but force a painful chill down his spine. Roderich halted as he came across a pathway that lead to his left, and a pathway that lead to his right. His mind started to spin, unable to figure out which way he was supposed to go. Both alleyways were equally ominous with the smell of garbage from the nearby dumpsters and the long shadows that stretched across the pathways that were lit by only the full moon's light.

"Edelstein."

Roderich's body tensed, then he slowly turned his head to his left. "Hello." He said, but his voice came out in a fearful whisper.

The man smiled at him. Roderich couldn't tell what the man looked like due to the shadows that stretched across him and the black clothing he was wearing. Roderich heard a clicking sound and he saw a small handgun glow just enough in the moonlight to tell that it was pointed at him. "Now, Edelstein, walk three steps forward, and place the money on the ground." The man ordered.

Roderich took a step backwards, concealing the briefcase behind him. "Where's Lovino and Ludwig. I want them first, then I'll give you my money."

The man chuckled. "Now do you really think you're the one calling the shots here?"

Roderich's fear altered and became fury. "Where are they?" He yelled, his voice echoing through the alley.

"Lovino is with me, just back there." The captor said, nodding his head in the direction Lovino was. "And you'll get Ludwig back if you cooperate, and right now you aren't doing so well at it."

Roderich narrowed his eyes. "Give him back to me."

"Give me the money."

Roderich had to force himself from running forward, taking the gun from the man, and killing him and all of his friends, but Roderich knew he'd get shot after he took three steps. "No. Give my family back, then I will give you my money." He hissed through grit teeth.

The man laughed hysterically. "How about this, Edelstein, I kill you, take your money, then kill Lovino and Ludwig. How does that sound?"

Roderich clenched the briefcase harder in his right hand. "We can't negotiate?"

"You wanna negotiate? How about this, you give me the money at the same time as I give you Lovino."

Roderich straightened his posture. "What about Ludwig?"

"You'll get him back if everything goes as planned."

A cold chill shot through Roderich. What did he mean by "planned"? What was his plan? Roderich hid his fear, and made himself look calm and casual. The man whistled and two other men walked up, one held a gun to Lovino's head, and the other was on Lovino's left side, holding onto his shoulder, leading him to Roderich and the captor. Lovino didn't look as scared as Roderich had thought, he actually looked more angry than scared. He had a few cuts on his face and a couple bruises, but besides his heavy limping due to his hip, he seemed fine. They stopped even to the captor.

"The money." The captor ordered.

"Lovino." Roderich demanded.

Lovino said something, but it was too muffled due to the gag in his mouth.

"The money." The man hissed as another cocked the gun that was against Lovino's temple.

Roderich inhaled, and took three steps forward, just like the man ordered, and bent down, placing the money on the alley's wet asphalt.

Just before he let go of the briefcase, he heard the world shattering words. "Liar!"

Roderich jerked his head upward looking in the direction of the sound. The man standing before him was glaring down at him in anger. Roderich tensed. "What?"

"You said you'd come alone!"

Roderich's heart sank, shattering inside his body.

"No! No!" Elizabeva struggled against a different man.

Roderich backed up, and moved slightly in his wife's direction, still holding the money in his right hand.

"Kill her!" The lead captor ordered.

"What? No!" Roderich sprinted towards Elizabeva, but it was too late. The man who she was fighting against pulled out a dagger, and shoved it into her abdomen, stopping her from struggling.

"No!" Roderich cried, tears building up in his eyes.

The man twisted the dagger, let her fall to the ground, and ran off with all the other kidnappers and Lovino.

Roderich slid to Elizabeva, dropping the briefcase a few paces back. He lifted her in his arms and held her. "No…" He whispered.

"It's okay…" Elizabeva mumbled. "It's okay, Roderich."

Tears rolled silently down Roderich's face. "This can't be happening…"

Elizabeva gave him a weak smile. "Roderich… Tell me something that I don't know about you…"

Roderich stared into his wife's dying green eyes. He knew exactly what to tell. "When I was getting married to you, I wasn't so sure I'd work out… But do you know the exact moment I fell in love with you?"

Elizabeva coughed, then shook her head.

"Right when you said 'I do.'"

Elizabeva smiled, but the light in her eyes were still fading slowly. "Do you know when I fell… in love… with you…?" She asked.

Roderich shook his head, tears rolling down his face and falling onto Elizabeva's.

"When you walked up to me and asked… 'Sollen wir tanzen?'…" She chuckled. "You say it better…"

Roderich could tell by how quiet her voice was and by how dark her eyes were that she was in her last moments. She fell in love with him when he asked that question, so Roderich decided he'd ask her one last time. "Sollen wir tanzen?"

Elizabeva gave him as slight smile. "Yes…" She whispered, her voice barely audible. She closed her eyes and went limp in Roderich's arms. Roderich uncontrollably sobbed into his deceased wife's green shirt, that was now forever stained with blood.

.

Feliciano was curled up in a ball underneath the dashboard on the drivers side of Roderich's car. He stretched himself out and peeked out the car window where he could see the captors. He bent back down, back hidden within the shadows of the car. Feliciano's mind kept wandering to the horrible nightmare where Lovino and Ludwig were murdered, and they killed Roderich and took his money. Feliciano's hands were shaking. He wasn't brave, not at all. He was the exact opposite of brave, which is the exact reason he opted for Gilbert to go in his place and hide in the car. Because Gilbert wasn't afraid of everything. Feliciano let out an exasperated sigh and froze. He heard shouting. Angry shouting. Yelling.

"You'll pay for that, you damn bastards!"

Feliciano's body began to shake more. They were taking Lovino away. He peeked out the window again and saw Lovino struggling against two men. He saw a gun get thrown to the ground. Lovino looked directly into Feliciano's eyes in terror. Lovino wouldn't want him to be here, to put himself in danger. But it was too late, Feliciano was here, Feliciano was in danger.

A different man put the gag back in Lovino's mouth and all three of them shoved him into the black car Feliciano was watching this whole time. Feliciano hid himself again. The black car's engine roared as it turned on.

Something took control of Feliciano, but whatever it was, it made him swallow his fear, and pull himself into the driver's seat and turn the car on. The black car drove away, speeding down the road. Feliciano forced the car into drive, and sped down the road, chasing them.

Luckily for him, this car was fast enough to keep up with them, but not fast enough to catch up to them.

They made a fast right. Feliciano made a fast right. They took a tight left, running the stoplight. Feliciano took a tight left, running the stoplight. They sped up, moving even faster now. Feliciano sped up, slamming his foot so hard on the accelerator that it hit the floor of the car and the engine roared even louder. The space between them began to fill with Feliciano's car surprisingly catching up to them. They made a fast right. Feliciano missed the fast right and continued forward.

But luckily for Feliciano, he lives in this area, and he knows all the shortcuts. Feliciano ended up speeding through a neighborhood, making fast rights, over and over again. He made one last fast right, slowing down only slightly so he didn't drive on someone's yard. Feliciano knew that these men were headed to the highway to try and lose him, so he knew this was his last chance to stop them. He pushed the accelerator against the metal floor of the car and sped down the hill, into the intersection of a four-way stop. The hood of their car began to appear in Feliciano's peripheral vision. They moved into his line of sight. Feliciano's car smashed into theirs, and Feliciano could feel himself lift out of his seat, but there was no seat belt buckled against his body to stop him from flying out of his seat and go crashing through the windshield.

.

Feliciano opened his eyes slowly, but his vision was dark. He heard the muffled sounds of sirens and crackling fire through the ringing of his hears. His head pounded, and his entire body was in horrible, agonizing pain. He moved his left leg. Bad idea. Stabbing pain shot through his knee and up his leg and into his back. He let out a soft, quiet whine of misery. He lifted his head. Bad idea. His neck ached and throbbed violently, so he laid his face back on the wet ground.

"Sir!"

The sound came from his right, but moved to his left so he could see the figure above him. But his vision was too blurry, he couldn't tell who it was.

"Sir!"

He lifted his head again, hoping to see the person better.

"No, sir, please don't move."

Feliciano put his head back on the ground. 'Sir'? What was 'sir' supposed to mean? What was this person even saying?

"_Che cosa?_" Feliciano asked.

The figure froze and stared down at him. "What?" It asked.

What was 'What?' supposed to mean? What language was this person speaking?

Feliciano closed his eyes and moaned in agony. "_Che lingua...?_"

"Do you speak english?" The figure asked.

What the hell was 'english'? Whatever it was, Feliciano didn't speak it.

"_No, non lo faccio._" Feliciano replied.

"What is your name?" The figure asked.

Feliciano shook his head slightly, but immediately regretted it. "_Cosa stai dicendo?_" Feliciano exclaimed angrily, but pain shot through his jaw and he closed it, and let out another moan.

The figure said something, but the ringing in his ears grew too loud to hear anything else. He opened his eyes and his vision was too blurred to see much, and it slowly darkened as he faded back into unconsciousness.

.

Roderich walked slowly and numbly out of the alleyway in the direction of the sirens, clutching the briefcase in his left hand, and letting his right hand dangle by his side. He was tear streaked, but no longer crying. "It should have been me…" He whispered.

"Sir, you need to stay back." A male voice ordered, gaining Roderich's attention.

Roderich looked up to see a paramedic standing in front of him, then he looked past the young man. Roderich saw the car Feliciano was supposed to be in upside down in the middle of someone's yard, and the kidnapper's car on fire in the middle of the intersection of a four-way stop.

"What happened!" He yelled, fear rising in his chest.

"Sir, just get back." The young paramedic said.

"No! That's my family!" Roderich saw a window shatter, and Lovino throw himself out of it, coughing hard.

Roderich pushed past the paramedic, and ran to Lovino. "Lovino!" He yelled.

Lovino, who was now laying on his back on the ground, desperately trying to breathe looked up at Roderich.

"Mein Gott, are you okay?" Roderich demanded over the crackling of the fire.

"I'm fine." Lovino growled, stopping himself from coughing. "Where's Feli?"

Roderich looked up, then to the car in a random person's yard, then back to Lovino. "I don't know…"

"Find him, dammit!" Lovino screamed, then began hacking again. "I'm fine." He whispered, forcing himself to his feet, then limped over to the police.

Roderich stood and went jogging around the wreckage, desperately looking for someone familiar.

"Sir!"

Roderich looked over at the sound, but this paramedic wasn't directing it at him, but at someone who limply laid on the ground. He watched in terror as the man hopelessly tried to make sense of the scene.

"Sir!"

The paramedic repeated. Roderich walked a few steps closer, staring at the injured man on the asphalt.

"No, sir, please don't move."

Roderich narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"_Che cosa?_"

Roderich froze. _Feli?_ He thought. Feliciano was hurt, this hurt. He looked back at where he last saw Lovino, but he was no longer there. Roderich's heart was pounding even harder now and his world began to spin too fast for him to keep up with. He took a step back, holding his head, feeling as if he was going to faint. He could barely breathe. _Feli, no!_ He thought.

"Sir? Sir! No, sir, what is your name?" The paramedic exclaimed.

Without thinking, Roderich ran over and kneeled down beside the paramedic. "His name is Feliciano Vargas."

The paramedic turned to him. "Thank you, sir, but you really must get out of the area."

Other paramedics ran up with a gurney, and gingerly placed Feliciano on it, strapped him in, ran inside the ambulance, that drove away quickly.

Roderich knew that he would have to find Lovino and tell him that Feliciano was hurt, so hurt he couldn't even stay conscious. When Roderich jogged up, Lovino was just ending a conversation with the police. Then it dawned on him. He _needs_ to tell the police about Elizabeva.

Lovino turned to step away. "Did you find Feli?"

Roderich nodded. "He was unconscious and they have him in an ambulance headed to the hospital right now."

Lovino closed his eyes tightly. "_Accidenti!_"

Roderich wanted to tell Lovino that everything would be all right, but right now he had to talk to the police. "Officer?" He asked.

The officer turned to him. "Yes?"

Roderich didn't know how to say it, so he just forced it out of him. "I am Roderich Edelstein. Lovino Vargas and Ludwig Beilschmidt were kidnapped by the men who were in the black car and used them for ransom in exchange for all of my money. They told us not to get the police involved, so we didn't, and they told me to come alone, but we didn't… And they killed… My wife…" Roderich wanted to break down and cry again, but he forced himself to stay calm.

"Yes, I know about the kidnappers. Now where is your wife?"

"I'll lead you to her."

.

Lovino's entire body ached, but he somehow managed to stay conscious although everyone else in the car was knocked out cold. Lovino heard the slight crackling of fire coming from the engine. _Get out._ Lovino thought. _Get out of the car._

Sirens started to blare loudly, growing closer and closer with each passing second, but Lovino couldn't wait for the firemen to save him, and he didn't care if the kidnappers made it out. Lovino repositioned himself and started trying to open the door, but it was locked and the controls were fried from the fire. Lovino leaned over and began to kick the window with his left leg, but it didn't do too much. The car began to fill with smoke, and pretty soon that was nearly all he could see. The unconscious woman next to him had a dagger on her, according to earlier, but then again pretty much everyone had a dagger on them. Lovino clutched the dagger and began to stab the window wit it. The window cracked. Cracked more. Cracked more. Broke. Lovino grabbed the windowsill of the car, not caring about the glass digging into his hands, and pulled himself out and landed on the ground coughing.

"Lovino!" He heard from a familiar voice.

Lovino looked over to see Roderich jogging to him, carrying the briefcase in his left hand, and his right covered in blood, which reminded him of someone he had to save.

"Mein Gott, are you okay.?" Roderich exclaimed.

"I'm fine." Lovino replied, choking back his coughing. Lovino then remembered seeing Feliciano in a car staring at him when he was still in the alley. "Where's Feli?"

Roderich looked up at something, then back down to Lovino. "I don't know…"

Anger flowed through Lovino. "Find him, dammit!" Lovino started to cough violently again. "I'm fine." He whispered. Lovino forced himself to his feet and spotted an officer before running off in that direction, fighting his dizziness with each step.

"Officer!" He yelled, coming to a halt before him, but Lovino didn't wait for a reply. "My name is Lovino Vargas, I was just kidnapped by the people in the black car. They had me for a week and demanded money from my friend, Roderich Edelstein." Lovino paused to breathe. "There was another man, Arthur Kirkland, who was kidnapped and was probably there for a month or so. Ludwig Beilschmidt, a friend of mine, was also kidnapped… Along with Matthew Kirkland, he was kidnapped too." Lovino gasped for air.

The officer seemed to be surprised on how fast Lovino was giving all of this information. "Sir-"

"The kidnappers made me drive to their warehouse, I can lead you there, as long as you can get me to a certain gas station, I can lead you there. But we have to save them! Arthur is a good man and they're demanding money that he doesn't have and they're hurting his son because he can't give them money!" Lovino interrupted.

The policeman took a step back. "And you said your name was Lovino Vargas?"

Lovino nodded multiple times. "Yes."

The officer finished scribbling a last few things down on his notepad, before he repeated the story.

"Yes, that's what happened." Lovino said. "But we have to go and get them."

"Sir, thank you for your information, and yes you will lead us there, but right now you need to rest. You have injuries." The officer said, nodding to the paramedic who had walked up.

Lovino gave the paramedic a glare. "I am refusing treatment!" He yelled, then looked back at the officer. "We have to go and save them."

The policeman sighed. "I can't go, but I will get Officer Greene go get backup and go with you."

"Thank you." Lovino said, turning away from the officer right as he spotted Roderich walking up. "Did you find Feli?"

Roderich nodded. "He was unconscious and they have him in an ambulance headed to the hospital right now."

Lovino closed his eyes tightly, anger flooding him. "_Accidenti!_" He hissed.

Roderich tuned to the officer as Lovino walked away. A different officer came jogging up. "Are you Lovino Vargas?" He asked.

"Yes, are you Officer Greene?"

"Yes. Come with me, please, Mr. Vargas." Officer Greene said, jogging off in the direction of a police car.

"Yes, Officer." Lovino said gladly following him so he could save everyone else who was held captive.

.

Feliks walked out of the gas station, acting casual, acting like the lives of his family weren't in danger. "Paid for the gas." He says, skipping up to Toris and Gilbert.

Gilbert just stared forward at the road, while Toris looked over to Feliks with raised eyebrows. "So what now?" Toris asked.

Feliks opened his mouth, but had no idea how to respond, so he closed it.

"Waste time." Gilbert chimed in, finally taking his albino-red eyes off the road.

"But how!" Toris said, gesturing his arms forward.

Feliks looked over at Toris, who seemed very worried. Toris always wanted to know what was going on in the world, that's how he comprehended it, but whenever he didn't understand, or he'd get too worried he would freak out, and Feliks was really the only one who knew how to calm him down. "Like, you worry too much." Feliks pointed at Toris. "Ab-libbing is my life!"

Gilbert walked over to the car. "Toss me the keys." He demanded.

Toris raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I'm going to move the car so someone else can gas up."

Toris hesitated, then finally tossed the keys to Gilbert, who got in the car, turned it on, and drove into an empty parking space. Feliks turned to the dark road, gazing into its shadows suspiciously.

"You okay?" Toris asked.

Feliks turned to him and stared right into his sky blue eyes and lied. "Yeah, Toris. I'm fine." But the truth was, he had a terrible feeling.

Feliks decided that he was going to "ab-lib" by vacuuming out his car and checking to air in all four of his tires, but yet there was still time.

"Got a text from Feli." Gilbert said, shattering the ominous silence.

"What's it say?" Feliks replied, jogging over to where Gilbert sat in the passenger seat with the door open.

"It says: 'Rod and Liza have been gone awhile, I'm getting a little worried...'"

Feliks closed his eyes tightly, his chest tightening in fear. "We're not allowed to respond, right?"

"That's what Feli told me." Toris answered.

Feliks brushed his hair behind his left ear, staring at the cement ground that's still wet from the earlier rain. Feliks breathed in the cold autumn air, desperately trying to calm his nerves. If one thing went out of line, one little thing wasn't the way these men wanted it to be, his family would be killed, and it would be his fault. It was his plan.

"Another text." Gilbert informed, catching Feliks off guard.

Toris gave Feliks a sympathetic glance, then looked back to Gilbert. "What does this one say?"

Gilbert's eyes widened in fear, ran his fingers through his albino-grey hair and let out a sigh. "Feli sent: 'I hear yelling!'"

Feliks heard Toris begin to pant. Feliks, in turn, grabbed his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Toris clutched Feliks' hand tightly.

"Another text."

Toris closed his eyes tightly, and took multiple deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.

"What does it say?" Feliks asked, begging that is was good news.

Gilbert paused before answering. "It says: 'I hear Lovino cussing… They're capturing him again!'"

Silence. Toris was holding his breath with his eyes closed, and the tightness in Feliks' chest nearly disabled him from breathing. Something went wrong. Did they find Elizabeva? Did thy backstab Roderich? Is Roderich dead? Is Elizabeva dead? Did they take Elizabeva and Roderich too? _This can't be happening._ Feliks thought. Feliks felt as if he was going to faint. His mind began to spin rapidly, but he forced himself to remain conscious. He looked at Toris beside him, who was paler than paper. "Toris." Feliks said weakly. "Toris, sit down." He placed his hands on Toris' shoulders, and directed him to the car, opened the back seat door, and sat him down.

Toris began to hyperventilate, and his entire body began to tremble. "What are we going to do?" Toris whispered. "They're dead! They killed Roderich! They killed Elizabeva!" Toris put his hands on his face. "They're all dead…"

Feliks gently grabbed Toris' wrists and began to pull them from his face. "Toris, look at me."

Toris did as he was told, and looked up at Feliks, letting him pull his hands from his face.

Feliks forced himself to remain calm. "Toris, they have Lovino, but it doesn't mean everyone's dead."

Toris stared at him blankly.

Feliks stood, still in front of Toris, and still holding onto Toris' trembling wrists. "Gilbert, could you go buy a bottle of water for him?"

Gilbert, who was staring blankly at the phone in his hands, stood up quickly and began walking back to the gas station. "Ja." He whispered over his shoulder.

Feliks kneeled back down in front of Toris, who still had no color in his face. "Toris." He whispered.

Toris looked at Feliks with a fearful expression. "Yes?"

Feliks had no idea where he was going with that, but he had to figure it out quickly. He shook his head. "We will figure this out, okay?"

Toris nodded slowly, but Feliks could see doubt in his eye. The truth was, it felt like everything was being destroyed. His family was in terrible danger, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Feliks reached his hands up, letting go of Toris' wrists, and ran his fingers through Toris' light brown hair. Toris closed his eyes, and there was a split second of peace on his face.

"Toris." Gilbert said, holding the bottled water in his hand.

Toris snapped his eyes open, then looked up at Gilbert. "T-Thank you." Toris gratefully took the water, opened it, and took a quivering sip.

Feliks stood up, grabbing Toris' hand, and looked back to the dark road. He blinked tears from his eyes, and forced himself to look calm and casual. He closed his eyes and focused on breathing.

He squeezed Toris' hand, and Toris squeezed it back. Feliks then opened his eyes when he heard a faint humming sound. It sounded like a car. The sound grew louder and louder, until finally Feliks could see a car racing down the road. A black car with heavily tinted windows. The car sped past them, followed by another car. A familiar car. A car that Feliks knew was a navy blue color. "Is that Feli's car!" Feliks screamed over the roaring of engines.

"What?" Toris exclaimed, standing up quickly.

"Ja, that was his car!" Gilbert answered, running to the drivers seat.

Feliks ran to the passenger seat, then stopped, turned around, and ran to the back seat, and sat with Toris. Gilbert turned the car on, and sped out of the gas station's parking lot, and out onto the road. Feliks buckled himself in. "Toris, buckle yourself." He ordered.

Toris did as he was told, and buckled himself. Feliks kept a hold of Toris' hand the whole time the car sped down the road, desperately trying to catch up to Feliciano.

Not much time passed before Feliks heard the sound of sirens growing closer and closer. He felt Gilbert slow the car, and pull over to the right side of the road. _Shit!_ Feliks thought. _We really don't have the time for a ticket right now._ But instead of a policeman showing up at the window, an ambulance and a fire truck went speeding past, sirens blaring. Gilbert pulled the car off the shoulder of the road, and began speeding again, staying just under the speed of the emergency vehicles.

They followed the vehicles to the scene, and they pulled over when they saw fire. Feliks jumped out of the car when it had barely stopped moving, and Toris quickly followed him. Gilbert turned the car off, then jumped out of the car. The three of them went running to the scene. The black car was on fire and had a broken back window. Firemen were pulling people out of the blaze. Feliks quickly turned to the left, and saw the familiar navy blue car sitting upside down in a random persons yard.

Toris went sprinting over to Feliciano's car. "Feli!" He called.

No answer.

Feliks and Gilbert followed Toris. They ran up right as paramedics were placing a motionless Feliciano in the ambulance. Toris began to hyperventilate again. "Oh, no." He breathed. "This can't be happening!"

Feliks kept turning from one direction to the next, with his hands on his head, holding onto his light blonde hair tightly. He wasn't really sure what he was looking for. Then he spotted someone familiar. "Roderich!" He screamed, then went sprinting. Roderich stopped and turned in Feliks' direction, a policeman standing parallel to him. Feliks caught up to him, and wrapped him in a giant, tight hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Ja… Okay..." Roderich said in monotone.

Feliks pulled himself off of Roderich, and looked him in the eye. "What? What happened?"

Roderich turned his head away from Feliks' eyes.

Feliks then saw that he was tear streaked. "What happened?" Feliks asked.

Roderich closed his eyes tightly, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I'm sorry, Feliks… I'm so sorry." He whispered.

Feliks' eyes widened and his chest tightened. "What happened." Feliks demanded.

Roderich turned his head back to Feliks. "I'm sorry. It should have been me."

"No." Feliks said in denial. "No." He shook his head multiple times, stepping back from Roderich.

"Elizabeva is…" Roderich began, trying to figure out how to say it.

Feliks covered his face with his hands. He didn't want to hear what he _knew_ Roderich was going to say. He didn't want to hear anything.

"Dead." Roderich finished quietly, his voice almost inaudible.

Feliks' legs went weak at the words, and he fell to his knees.

"Sir!" The police officer exclaimed.

"I'm-I'm okay." Feliks lied, fighting tears.

"I'm so, so sorry, Feliks. It should have been me." Roderich whispered.

"No!" Feliks glared up at Roderich. "Never say that!"

Roderich's eyes widened. "What?"

"Never say it should have been you! Because it's not your fault! It should have been _me_! It was _my _plan! _I_ should have died!" Feliks screamed, tears rolling down his face.

"What? Feliks, no! Don't say that!" Toris chimed in.

"It should have been _me_." Feliks mumbled to himself, his entire body trembling, his vision blurring and spinning. Everything darkened as Feliks lost his consciousness.


	11. Young Strength

Chapter 11

Young Strength

"Turn left here!" Lovino screamed, pointing at the left turn.

Officer Greene nodded slowly, and made the turn onto a gravel and dirt road.

Lovino swallowed hard, fighting bad memories. "Please turn right."

Greene made the turn, the followed the road.

"Park here." Lovino ordered when the warehouse was in sight.

"Okay." Greene said after parking and turning the car off. "You need to stay here, Vargas."

"What?" Lovino exclaimed.

"If they're in there, it could be very dangerous."

"There's no way you're leaving me in here." Lovino hissed. "There are people in there I need to make sure are okay."

"Vargas, this is an order. Stay here."

Lovino closed his eyes tightly. "Fine."

"We will check to see if they're here. If not, I will come and get you." Greene instructed.

"Fine."

Greene left the car, and so did many policemen from the backup they brought. Lovino watched them run up to the warehouse, cautiously, with their pistols in their hands. Lovino sighed angrily. He should be there. He needs to make sure that Arthur, Ludwig and Matthew are alive. That they're not too hurt. Lovino rubbed the bridge of his nose, forcing himself to stay in the car and not run out after them.

The car door beside him opened. "It's clear, Vargas." Greene informed.

Lovino opened the passenger door as quickly as he possibly could, jumped to his feet, and ran inside without a word to Greene. He knew exactly where to go. Quickly, Lovino found the well-lit hallway, that led to the poorly-lit corridor. He walked down the well-lit hallway, being cautious with every step.

A muffled scream filled the hallways.

Lovino froze, his eyes wide. He, then, went sprinting in the direction of the sound. He looked down the poorly-lit corridor at the huge, heavy, steel door. He glared at it in anger, then ran towards it. He unlocked it as if it were a front door, then swung it open quickly.

He saw no one.

Not one person was in sight. Maybe the doorway was blocking his vision. Lovino ran in, all the way to the back of the room. Still no one. He turned around and froze.

Matthew.

Matthew sat in the corner of the room, his lavender eyes filled with fear. He was gagged, handcuffed, and his feet were shackled to the wall. He had a trail of dried blood coming from his nose that was black and blue. He had dried cuts on his face, and his entire body was covered in dark, painful bruises, and his left hand was swollen and black. His dirty blonde hair was messier than Lovino had last saw it, and actually had some dried blood in it. He had dark circles beneath his young purple eyes.

Lovino ran over, kneeling down beside the seven-year-old. "Matthew, its me, Lovino." He informed, ungagging poor Matthew.

"I know." Matthew whispered weakly, after Lovino removed the cloth that was tied to his head.

Officer Greene ran in and kneeled down beside Matthew. "Do you know this man?" He asked, nodding his head toward Lovino.

Matthew nodded. "Yes, sir, I know him. His name is Lovino. He was in here before I was."

"And what is your name?" Greene questioned kindly.

"My name is Matthew Kirkland, Officer."

"You don't have to call me 'Officer'." Greene began. "You can call me Carson."

Matthew looked at Greene with a confused expression, then nodded slowly. "Okay, Carson." He mumbled quietly.

"I mean no disrespect," Lovino began angrily, "But could you unshackle him, please?"

Greene nodded, pulling a key out of his pocket. "Of course. I'm sorry, Matthew."

Matthew gave Greene a kind but tired smile. "It's okay, Carson."

Greene unlocked the handcuffs on Matthew's wrists, then unlocked the shackled on his feet.

"Where did you get a key?" Matthew asked, rubbing his right ankle with is right hand.

"I found it out there." Greene replied.

Matthew stood up with a grunt. "Ow." He mumbled.

"What's wrong?" Lovino asked quickly.

"My knees hurt." Matthew replied quietly.

Lovino ran his fingers through his hair. "Probably because you haven't moved them for… How long were you in here by yourself?"

"Since they left with you."

Lovino stopped in his tracks. "Where are Ludwig and your father?"

Matthew looked at the ground. "I don't know."

Officer Greene turned around and kneeled down to Matthew's level. "What happened?"

Matthew thought hard for a moment. He gently rubbed his left hand. "After Lovino left, they took me out of the room and they hurt me." Matthew gently rubbed his nose that was probably broken. "The scarred man brought me back and put a gun to my head." Matthew's eyes widened in fear. "Daddy attacked the scarred man, and so did Ludwig. The man said he was going to give me a quick and painless death, but then they attacked him, so I was going to die from de-hy-dra-tion." Matthew looked up at Lovino. "What is dehydration?"

"When you die from not drinking water." Lovino answered.

Matthew looked down at his left hand. "Oh." Matthew's stomach growled, and he closed his eyes tightly. "Ow." He mumbled, clutching his stomach.

Lovino looked over to Greene. "By any chance, do you have any food with you?"

Greene shook his head. "No, but I do have water." Greene looked back to poor Matthew. "Do you want some water?"

Matthew looked up at Greene with wide eyes. "Yes, please, Carson, sir."

"Come on, then." Greene said, standing and leading Matthew out of the room.

Lovino walked parallel to Matthew, and Matthew reached up with his right hand, and held onto Lovino's left one. Awkwardly, Lovino held Matthew's hand, and led him to the ambulance, led him to safety.

Once in the ambulance, Matthew wrapped Lovino in a tight hug, crying. "Thank you, Lovino." He sobbed. "Thank you."

Lovino awkwardly patted Matthew's back. "You're welcome, Matthew."

"Thank you, Lovino. You saved my life."

Lovino stared down at Matthew, who was still holding onto him tightly. This poor, seven year old boy was put through this horrible event, and Lovino saved him from it. Lovino came back for him. And now, Matthew was going to see his father and brother again. All because Lovino came back for him. Lovino smiled, hugging Matthew back, tighter this time. "You're welcome, Matthew."

.

The ambulance rolled up to the closest hospital, and parked by the "Emergency" sign. Lovino got out of the ambulance, followed by Matthew, who grabbed Lovino's left hand again. Greene led them into the hospital, where a nurse quickly led them to a room for Matthew.

Lovino paced outside of Matthew's room, while the doctor treated to poor Matthew's injuries. The nurse told him that she was going to call his father, that lived a couple states over. The doctor came out of Matthew's room. "Doctor." Lovino called.

The doctor stopped, and turned to Lovino. "Yes?" He asked.

"Is Matthew okay?"

"Yes."

Lovino crossed his arms. "What are his injuries?"

The doctor shook his head. "I'm afraid I cannot tell you that."

"What? Why not?"

"Mr. Vargas, you are not Matthew's legal guardian, and Matthew isn't old enough to give me permission to tell you. His injuries are confidential to you." The doctor turned to walk away.

"Can I go and see him?" Lovino asked.

"Yes, you can, Mr. Vargas." The doctor said over his shoulder.

"Thank you." Lovino walked into Matthew's room. "Hey, Matthew." He greeted quietly.

Matthew looked up at the ceiling, thinking hard. "C-Ciao." He replied.

A smile drew on Lovino's face. "You remembered hello in Italian."

Matthew nodded multiple times with a smile on his face. "Yep."

"May I come in?"

"Yes, Lovino." Matthew replied cheerfully.

Lovino walked into the room, and sat down in the chair beside Matthew's bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Still hungry, but Doctor Baskey said a nurse will come in here in a little bit." Matthew turned a took a drink from a water cup. "How are you? You look a little hurt."

Lovino then remembered the car accident he had gotten into just yesterday. He, then, noticed how much his hip was hurting. "I'm fine, Matthew."

Matthew yawned and stretched, and Lovino saw Matthew's left hand wrapped up. "What happened to you hand?"

Matthew looked at his left hand. "Oh, Doctor said I have three broken fingers. My pointer, my middle, and my ring finger." He said, pointing at each broken finger. "Also he said my nose is broken." Matthew gently rubbed his nose.

Lovino leaned over and rubbed his shoulder. "Well you're very strong, you know."

"What?"

"I mean, you have three broken fingers, a broken nose, and you're covered in bruises, but yet you're still sitting here, smiling. I don't think even I am that strong." Lovino gave Matthew a warm smile.

Matthew looked up at Lovino, his smile growing even larger. "Really?"

"Yes Matthew."

The nurse walked in, right as Matthew turned and hugged Lovino. "Matthew, I have some soup for you."

Matthew slowly pulled himself off of Lovino, his face twisted in disgust.

Lovino chuckled. "It's not the same terrible soup you've been fed, okay. Aren't you hungry?"

"Yeah." Matthew replied sheepishly.

The nurse handed Matthew the tray with soup and crackers on it, along with another cup of water. "If you need anything, you can ask for Nurse Ross, okay?"

Matthew nodded, already eating the soup.

Nurse Ross turned to Lovino. "And who would you be?"

Lovino gave her a kind smile. "Lovino Vargas. I was kidnapped, just like Matthew, and I ended up leading police to the location Matthew was at."

Ross returned the smile. "Okay, then." Then, she left the room.

Lovino looked back over to Matthew, who was already halfway done with his bowl of soup. "So this bowl isn't so bad?"

Matthew shook his head, finished the bowl, quickly ate the crackers, and drank half of his cup of water.

"You know," Lovino began, leaning his elbows on his knees. "one of the nurses said that she called your Papa, and he and your brother are headed here."

Matthew's eyes widened, and seemed to sparkle with happiness, "Really?"

Lovino nodded. "But, they live a couple states over, so it will be a while before they're here."

"Oh." Matthew yawed again, and rubbed his eye with right hand.

"In the meantime, you should get some sleep. You look very tired."

"Okay." Matthew mumbled. "But can you stay here?"

Lovino was taken back by that. "What?"

"Can you stay here? I don't want to be alone again."

Lovino gave Matthew a kind smile. "Yes, but I am going to step outside the room for just a minute. There is someone I need to call."

Matthew nodded, then repositioned himself in his bed. "Goodnight, Lovino. Thank you."

"Goodnight, Matthew. You're welcome." Lovino left the room.

He reached the hallway, and stopped, dialing Roderich's number on the cell phone. He listened to it hum until it was answered. "Hello?"

Lovino realized that wasn't Roderich's voice. "Who is this?" Lovino demanded angrily.

"Gilbert."

"Can I speak to Roderich?"

Gilbert paused before answering. "No. He can't talk right now."

"Why not?"

Gilbert paused again. "What do you need?"

"What's wrong with Roderich? Why can't he talk?"

"Do you really need to talk to him that bad, or can I take a message?" Gilbert replied angrily.

"Nevermind… How's everything over there?"

"Bad. Really bad." Gilbert muttered.

"Why?"

Gilbert paused. "One second. I'm going to step outside."

Lovino heard Gilbert mumble something to who he guessed was Roderich, then he heard wind. "Alright." Gilbert said. "I'm outside."

"Where are you?" Lovino asked.

"The hospital. And you?"

Lovino shrugged. "A hospital in Colorado. Not sure what the name is though." Lovino took a deep breath, preparing himself for terrible news. "What's wrong with Roderich?"

Gilbert fell silent.

"Gilbert?" Lovino asked, wondering if he hung up.

"Elizabeva is dead."

Lovino dropped his phone. "Shit!" He hissed, then picked it back up. "W-What?"

"She's dead." Gilbert mumbled quietly.

Lovino didn't know what to say, but he had to say something. "I-"

"You don't have to say anything." Gilbert cut Lovino off.

"How's he taking it?" Lovino wanted to slam his face into a wall for asking that. He really was stupid.

"Not well." Gilbert sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"Ja, Roderich can't focus on anything, and Feliks won't stop blaming himself. The only words I've heard out of him ever since he got the news was 'It should have been me!'" Gilbert chuckled, then began to sob. "And Feli is _still_ unconscious. And Ludwig is _still_ missing!"

Lovino felt his heart sink. He should be over there comforting his family. But then again, he might have just saved a family. Feli was still unconscious, Feliks wishes he was dead, Elizabeva is dead, Roderich is too depressed that he can't even focus, Ludwig and Arthur are still missing, and Gilbert is now breaking down. Everything has gone to hell.

"What am I going to do?" Gilbert cried. "My little bruder is missing…" Gilbert took a deep breath. "Unless you found him."

Lovino froze. He didn't want to tell Gilbert that his brother was still missing. Lovino sighed. "I'm sorry, Gilbert. The only one I found was Matthew."

"Matthew?"

"A little boy who got kidnapped just after I did. His father is still missing too. Arthur Kirkland."

"Ja, I know about Matthew Kirkland, I heard about it on the News. Didn't think you'd be kidnapped at the same time though." Gilbert sniffled. "Well, I'd better go inside and try to calm Roderich down. Maybe try and get him to eat. Anyway, good luck to you, Lovino."

"And to you too." Lovino hung up, and walked back into Matthew's room. Matthew was laying on the bed, his eyes closed, already asleep. Lovino walked back over to the chair he was sitting in before, and sat again. He slouched in the chair, crossed his arms, and fell asleep.

.

"_Oh Mon Dieu!_"

Lovino sat up quickly from his sleep. "What the f-" Lovino cut himself off when he saw a man with long, light blonde hair come running in, and hugging Matthew tightly. A little boy, who had short, dirty blonde hair, and a strange cowlick climbed up on the bed, and hugged Matthew as well.

"Mattie!" The little boy yelled.

Casually, Lovino stood and began to make his way out of the room. He really didn't want to get in the middle of a family reunion.

"Excuse me, sir?" Lovino heard behind him.

_Shit! I was spotted!_ Lovino thought, turning around to face the blonde man with blue eyes. "Yes?" Lovino asked.

"Are you Lovino Vargas?"

Lovino paused before answering. "Um, yes."

The blonde haired man stepped forward and hugged him. "Thank you! Thank you so much! You brought my son back to me! Thank you!"

Lovino stood there awkwardly as the stranger hugged him. "You're welcome." Lovino mumbled. "And I'm sorry."

The man pulled himself off of Lovino. "For what?"

Lovino rubbed the back of his neck. "Your husband."

The man's smile faded a little, and his eyes seemed to darken. "Arthur would have wanted Matthew to be saved." The man closed his eyes and shook his head, his blonde hair flowing majestically. "Excuse my manners, though. I am Francis Bonnefoy-Kirkland." Francis held out a hand for Lovino to shake.

Lovino shook his hand. "And as you know, I am Lovino Vargas." Lovino dropped his hand by his side awkwardly, and cleared his throat. "Um, I think I'm going to go, though. Give you three some time alone."

"No!" Francis yelled. "Please, stay."

"Why do you want me to stay so badly?"

"You saved my sons life. You brought him back to me. Why wouldn't I want to talk to you?"

Lovino felt someone hug him around the waist. "Thank you!" The other boy yelled.

Lovino smiled slightly. "You must be Alfred. Matthew talked about you a little bit. So did your… Father…"

Alfred hugged him tighter around the waist. "Thank you." He mumbled. "You brought Mattie back!"

Lovino patted Alfred on the shoulder. "You're welcome."

Alfred, then, turned and ran back over to Matthew's bed, climbed on it, and hugged him again.

"Ow." Lovino heard Matthew whisper.

"Oh my God! I'm sorry!" Alfred yelled, pulling himself off of Matthew. "Did I hurt you? I didn't mean to."

"It's okay, Al. I'm fine." Matthew pulled Alfred back into a hug.

Lovino looked over at Francis, who was standing with his right hand over his mouth with tears in his eyes. Francis had obviously missed seeing Matthew and Alfred being together, being brothers. Lovino saw Francis drop his right hand, and grab a hold of his left. He began rubbing a single gold ring that sat on his left ring finger. Lovino then knew that he had to somehow find Arthur. For Francis. For this family.


	12. In the Hospital

Chapter 12

In the Hospital

Roderich stared at the floor in front of him. He was supposed to be visiting Feliciano by now, that's what he came here for. But Feliciano still wasn't awake, at least that's what he heard. Or even worse, what if Feliciano woke up when Roderich was in there? Roderich loves his family, but he doesn't want to explain that the love of his life was dead.

Roderich's phone, that sat on the small side table between him and Gilbert, began to ring loudly. Roderich didn't respond to it, though. He just continued to stare forward, at the floor, at the grey, boring, floor.

"Roderich?" Gilbert asked.

Roderich didn't even glance at his cousin. He heard him clearly, even through the fuzz his mind was in. But he didn't respond.

"Roderich."

Gilbert sounded a bit irritated, so Roderich decided to say something for the first time in hours. "Could you get that for me, Gilbert?" But Roderich doubted that Gilbert even heard him, after all, Roderich barely even heard the words himself.

Gilbert sighed and answered the phone. Roderich tried to pay attention to what Gilbert was saying, he tried to pay attention to the half of the conversation he heard, but his mind drifted back to that nothing it has been in for a whole day. His mind kept flashing those horrible images of Elizabeva's face pale, her eyes dark and empty, her body lifeless. Roderich's eyes drifted over to his right hand, the image of it covered in Elizabeva's blood forever stained in his memory. Roderich closed his eyes, tears rolling down his face.

"One second. I'm going to step outside."

Roderich's eyes snapped open at the sudden sound of his cousin's voice. Roderich jerked his head up to see Gilbert walking past him and to the door. Roderich ran his fingers through his dark brown hair. He sat up, leaning against the backrest of the chair with a sigh. Roderich turned his head to the right, and saw Feliks sitting in the chair next to him, his arms in his lap, his green eyes mindlessly staring forward. Roderich sighed and took his glasses off, and placed them in the inside pocket of his blue jacket.

"Roderich."

Roderich looked up at Gilbert who was now walking up to him. Roderich didn't respond, but he made himself look as if he was paying attention.

Gilbert stopped in front of Roderich. "Let's go down to the cafeteria. You've barely eaten."

The thought of food make Roderich's already upset stomach feel even worse, but, for some odd reason, he stood up with a nod. "Ja, I'm a little hungry." Who knows? Maybe food would give him a bit more energy so he could actually focus on one thing for more than thirty seconds.

Roderich began to follow Gilbert, but his mind began to enter that dark nothing again.

Roderich felt a slight and sudden impact, and his mind snapped back to reality.

"Hey." Gilbert turned around angrily.

Roderich realized how close he was standing to Gilbert, which meant he ran into him. "Oh, sorry." He whispered.

Gilbert sighed, then turned back to Toris. "What was it that you needed again?"

"Could you get something small for Feliks?" Toris replied.

"Huh?" Feliks asked, turning his head towards Toris.

Toris looked at Feliks and gave him a smile. "Gilbert is going to get you something to eat."

Feliks looked at the ground with his pain filled eyes. "I'm not hungry though, but," Feliks shrugged. "Okay."

"Roderich!"

Roderich snapped his head back to Gilbert. "W-What?"

"Stop staring at Feliks, and come on."

"Right." Roderich glanced down at Feliks, who didn't even notice what Gilbert had said, then back up to his cousin. "Sorry. Lead the way."

Gilbert's red eyes that were full of irritation, seemed to grow sympathetic, and a slight smile grew on his face. "Fine." Gilbert chuckled strangely, just like he always did. "Just don't run into me again." He gave Roderich a fake smile, turned around, and led him to the cafeteria.

The cafeteria must have not have been too far away, or Roderich absent mindedly followed Gilbert and didn't even notice how long the walk was.

"Find somewhere to sit, I'm going to get some food for us."

Roderich nodded, and turned to his left, found an empty table, and sat down. Roderich could feel his mind falling into that haze, so he forced himself to actually pay attention to his surroundings. There were doctors scattered about, quietly eating their lunch. Some family members were chatting, others were crying. Some people sat alone, blank stares on their faces, others mindlessly chewed on the food on their plates. Roderich looked over at Gilbert, who was paying for what looked like two sandwiches and two bottles of water.

Roderich looked down at the table, drumming a familiar tune on the wood. He looked back up to see Gilbert sitting down across from him, setting an orange tray between them. Two sandwiches laid on cardboard-brown napkins and two bottles of water sat in each corner of the tray. Roderich reached out with a weary hand, gripped the nearest bottle, opened it, and took a quivering sip. He lowered the bottle, and stared blankly at the sandwich. Just looking at it made him nauseous.

"You need to eat." Gilbert reminded Roderich.

"I know, I'm just not hungry."

Gilbert sighed. "You told me that you were a little hungry."

Roderich looked up at Gilbert. "I know, but that was until I saw food. I'm getting nauseous."

Gilbert dipped his head, dropping it into his hands with a sigh. Without looking at Roderich, Gilbert stood. "I'm going to use the bathroom. When I come back I want at least three bites out of that sandwich, got it?"

"Ja, Gilbert." Roderich replied softly.

Without another look, not even a glance, Gilbert walked away. Roderich just stared forward where he last saw his cousin turning the corner, heading towards the bathroom. Roderich glanced around again, but nothing in the room had changed. He had to keep his mind on something, anything. Roderich looked at a doctor who sat alone and considered walking over to talk with him. But what the hell would he say? So, Roderich just looked back at the sandwiches, laying forgotten on the tray. Roderich sighed and took a bite.

After Roderich's second bite, his nausea seemed to grow worse. He felt as if he was going to throw up. He grabbed the bottle of water and took another sip, hoping it would help calm down his stomach. The water did nothing. _Three bites._ Roderich thought. _I only need to take three bites._ Roderich knew that he had to eat, and he knew that it didn't matter if he was nauseous or not, he _had_ to eat. Taking three bites of a sandwich wasn't hard, actually it was doing more good than bad. Even if he threw up later. Roderich forced himself to take another bite, followed by another. He knew that he would eventually eat the whole sandwich, so why not eat half of it? Roderich took another bite, then set the sandwich on the tray right as Gilbert turned the corner again. Gilbert was walking towards Roderich with his head down.

Roderich watched Gilbert sit across from him again. Roderich just stared at his cousin, who was looking at the wooden table between them. Gilbert looked up at Roderich's sandwich, then to Roderich. "I see you've eaten."

Roderich stared Gilbert. "Ja." He said slowly. He noticed Gilbert's eyes were even more full of sadness then they had been a little bit ago. Gilbert's eyes were shiny, his face looked a little red, and his cheeks were tear streaked.

"Gilbert." Roderich said quietly. This whole time, Gilbert had been so strong for him, for Feliks, for Toris, but now he was breaking down. Gilbert could no longer hold his strong composure, and he could no longer hide his pain. Roderich wanted to punch himself for acting so selfish. He wasn't the only one who has lost someone. Gilbert and Feliciano have been close ever since they met, and now Feliciano wouldn't wake up. Elizabeva was Gilbert's family, and now she's dead. Ludwig, his brother, is missing. And Roderich was sitting here acting like he was the only one who had lost someone.

"Gilbert, I'm so sorry."

"Why? Why are you 'so sorry'?" Gilbert gave Roderich a fake smile.

Roderich paused, closing his purple eyes. "I'm being selfish."

"How?"

Roderich opened his eyes, looking down at the table. "How I've been acting."

"Roderich, you're wife is-" Gilbert trailed off.

"I know. But you lost her too. You and Elizabeva are-" Roderich cleared his throat. "_Were_, close. You and Feli are very close. And Ludwig… Ludwig is… missing..."

Gilbert closed his eyes tightly. "And?"

Roderich glanced up at the ceiling, then back to Gilbert. "You've been acting so strong and composed for me and Feliks, and we're doing nothing in return. Gilbert, you're breaking down. You can't just bottle everything up and cry in the bathroom."

"What is your point?" Gilbert's voice grew irritated, and he opened his red eyes that were shining even more with tears.

Roderich stared at Gilbert blanky until Gilbert snapped his fingers in front of Roderich's face. Roderich continued staring. "I didn't zone out…" Roderich glanced to his left as someone passed by. "I guess I'm saying 'I'm sorry' and 'thank you.'"

Gilbert lowered his gaze. "Why are you sorry?"

Roderich sighed. "You've been here for me, you've been helping me, but I've done nothing for you when you need it."

Gilbert looked back at Roderich. "Do you know how you can help me?"

Roderich's eyes widened. "How?"

Gilbert gave Roderich a slight smirk. "Finish that sandwich."

.

Roderich walked through the halls of the hospital, looking for the correct room number. He had surprisingly finished the sandwich without throwing up, he had successfully kept himself from zoning out, and he was now making his way to Feliciano's room. If he could ever find it.

Roderich mumbled the door numbers under his breath as he passed them. "Two thirty-three, two thirty-four, two thirty-five." Roderich stopped in front of the next door. "Two thirty-six." He whispered, then walked over to the closed door and knocked on it.

"Sì?" A weak and quiet voice answered.

Slowly, Roderich opened the door to see Feliciano sitting upright in his bed, and a nurse checking his vitals. "Hey, Feli." Roderich greeted, trying to make himself sound cheerful.

Feliciano's eyes lit up and a huge smile drew on his face. "Roderich!" He exclaimed, his voice still sounding weak.

Roderich's fake smile turned real. "How are you feeling?" It felt great to see Feliciano awake and thinking so clearly.

Feliciano's smile dropped and his eyes lowered. "I hurt everywhere."

Roderich wasn't sure why he was taken back by that. It made sense why he would hurt everywhere. He flew out of his damn windshield, of course he would hurt everywhere.

"My shoulder hurts mostly." Feliciano informed. "According to how broken it is, the doctors assume I landed directly on it."

Roderich tilted his head to the left. "How bad is it?"

Feliciano looked up at the nurse. "It was dislocated due to landing on it." Feliciano brought his right hand up and rubbed his left shoulder, that was wrapped with his arm in a sling. "Also parts of the bone is cracked."

Roderich shook his head. "Mein Gott." He whispered, walking in and sitting down in the recliner next to Feliciano.

Feliciano gave Roderich a weak smile, showing his teeth. "I'm okay, though."

Roderich's eyebrows narrowed. "Are you missing teeth?" He asked.

Feliciano looked up at the ceiling, running his tongue over his teeth. "Yep." He said, looking back at Roderich. "Three." He gave Roderich another smile, showing the three gaps in his line of white teeth.

"Mr. Vargas, here's something to eat." The nurse said, placing a tray on the table beside Feliciano.

"Thank you."

The nurse turned back to Feliciano, standing in the doorway. "Do you want your door closed?"

"Uh, sure." Feliciano mumbled, placing the tray of food on his lap.

Feliciano began to eat his bowl of soup, and silence fell on the room. Roderich's mind drifted back into the nothing that was already way too familiar. He just stared forward, at the closed wooden door, hearing nothing, saying nothing, seeing nothing, thinking nothing.

"Roderich!" Feliciano shouted, shattering the haze in Roderich's mind.

"What?" Roderich turned his head quickly to Feliciano.

"Are you okay? You've been staring at that door for five minutes. I don't even think you blinked."

Roderich blinked at Feliciano, deciding whether or not to lie. He had been procrastinating this conversation for way too long, and he now had to tell Feliciano everything. "Do you remember what happened?"

Feliciano shook his head. "No. Doctors said that I got in a terrible car wreck and I flew out my windshield because I wasn't wearing my seatbelt."

"That's partly true." Roderich informed. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Feliciano thought hard for a moment before finally answering. "Sitting in the alleyway, waiting for you, Elizabeva, Ludwig and Lovino."

Elizabeva's name nearly ripped Roderich's heart out, but he forced himself to keep his composure. "Feli…" Roderich paused, swallowing hard and building up the courage to say the next three words. "Elizabeva is… dead…" The last word came out as a small and barely audible whisper.

Feliciano's gaze dropped, and his tired eyes filled with denial. Feliciano shook his head, tears in his brown eyes. "No." He whispered. "No."

Roderich placed his forehead in his hands. His mind began to recede back into nothing, but he shook his head, keeping himself responsive. "Feli…" Roderich swallowed hard. "No matter how much I wish it wasn't true… Elizabeva's gone."

Feliciano burst into tears, shaking his head. "No! She can't be dead!"

Roderich closed his eyes tightly, silent tears rolling down his face. "Feli…" Roderich didn't know what to say to him. It was hard enough to keep himself calm, let alone Feliciano.

Feliciano covered his face with his right hand. "What about everyone else?" He sobbed.

Roderich sat up straighter, wiping tears from his eyes. "Gilbert, Feliks, Toris and I are all fine. Lovino is over in Colorado, and he has some minor wounds, mainly bruises, and Ludwig…" Roderich trailed off.

Feliciano slowly took his hand off his face and looked Roderich in the eye. "What about Ludwig?"

Roderich dropped his gaze, and began to hear Feliciano breathe heavily. "Ludwig is still missing."

Feliciano's eyes closed tightly with more tears rolling down his face. He began shaking his head again, slowly raising his hand up to his head.

Roderich's phone rang.

"Wait, why is Lovino in Colorado?" Feliciano asked, taking his hand from his face, and looking back to Roderich.

Roderich looked at the unrecognizable number on his phone. "He's leading police to where the kidnappers kept him because he wanted to save the others that were there."

Feliciano looked back down, covering his face again. "Oh."

Roderich debated with himself for a while on whether or not he should answer that phone. It could be a harmless misdial, or it could be _them._ The bastards who took the love of his life away. Sudden anger flowed through Roderich, replacing all of his other emotions, replacing all his grief, all his guilt. He quickly pressed the answer button and put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

A familiar male voice spoke on the other end. "Is this Roderich Edelst-"

Roderich cut him off. "Ja, bastard, it's me."

"Wow. Why so angry?"

"Don't even asked that question! You know why!" Roderich yelled.

"Who is it?" Feliciano chimed in, fear in his innocent brown eyes.

Roderich looked over at Feliciano. "Take a guess."

Feliciano's eyes widened in surprise. "_Accidenti_." He mumbled, his voice growing angry.

"Calm down, Edelstein, I only called to talk."

"I'm not interested in your gossip." Roderich hissed. "What do you really want?"

The man on the other end chuckled. "What do you think? I want your money."

Roderich glared forward at the wall, almost as if he was glaring at the man himself. "Only if you give Ludwig back."

"That might be a little hard."

"You _will_ give Ludwig back." Roderich instructed.

The man laughed. "Oh, look at you, Rod. What, now all of a sudden you're the one in charge? Last time I checked, I could blow Ludwig's brain's out whenever I wanna."

Roderich's body tensed. "What do I need to do to get Ludwig back?"

"Tell the bastard that if he doesn't give Ludwig back, I'll personally find and kill him!" Feliciano screamed.

Roderich then realized how much Feliciano sounded like Lovino when he got angry enough. Turns out they do have similarities. Roderich shook his head, bringing his attention back to the conversation at hand.

"I heard that." The man on the other end sang.

"It was meant to be heard." Roderich growled.

"Well, i'd better figure out an arrangement for you to get Ludwig back, cuz if I kill too many of one family, that'll get police attention."

Roderich narrowed his eyes. "What's your arrangement?"

"How 'bout this," The man paused to clear his throat. "You show up, same place, same time, with your fortune, and I'll give you Ludwig."

Roderich sighed. "Fine."

"On one condition."

Roderich closed his eyes tightly.

"Come alone this time. We don't wanna have any repeats of what happened last time, do we?"

"No." Roderich mumbled.

"Just you come, get Ludwig, and leave, got it?"

"Ja."

"Good… Toodles!"

Roderich randomly remembered the name of a poor family man Lovino had told him about. "Wait!"

The man went silent for a moment. "What?"

"What about Arthur Kirkland?"

"What about him?"

"What can I do to save him?"

"Nothing! You are not affiliated with him!" The man yelled.

Roderich could feel anger build up in him. "But-"

"No! You know what, Edelstein, I can do whatever I want to that little family. I could kidnap Matthew again, or I could take Alfred. Francis, I could get Francis too. No matter if Matthew is in the hospital, where his is supposedly 'safe', because he isn't. No one in that little, insignificant family is safe. And there is _nothing_ you can do to help them." The man on the other end began to laugh insanely. "Now, if you want your cousin to live, do not get involved with the Kirklands."

Roderich glanced over at Feliciano, whose eyes were closed with silent tears streaming down his face. "What if you take me, and let Arthur go?" Roderich made his voice nearly silent, so Feliciano wouldn't hear.

The man started laughing more. "And who will give me the money?"

Roderich swallowed hard. "I will give you my money, you let Ludwig go and…" Roderich paused to form his voice into a whisper. "And you take me."

"That sounds like a splendid idea, but there is only one problem."

"What's that?"

"You. Are. Not. Affiliated. With. Arthur."

Roderich closed his eyes tightly.

"Understand?" The man asked.

"But-"

"If you don't say 'yes, I understand' I will take your money, and kill your cousin right in front of you." The man interrupted. "Now, Roderich, do you understand?"

Roderich cleared his throat. "Ja, I understand."

"Good. Now, I will see you in a week!" The man hung up.

Roderich slowly hung up, and slowly placed his phone on the table beside him. Roderich breathed slowly, trying to calm himself down.

"Well?" Feliciano asked impatiently.

"I go alone, same place, same time, and give them my money to get Ludwig back."

Feliciano nodded slowly. "And you're going alone this time?"

"Ja, that's what I said."

"Just making sure." Feliciano replied, repositioning himself in his bed.

Roderich's phone rang.

Roderich snapped his head over to it, anger flowing through him. If it was that man again, he didn't know what he would do. Unwittingly, Roderich answered the phone without looking at the number that came up. "What do you want this time, bastard!"

"Fine, Roderich," Lovino replied. "Do you want me to call someone else, instead?"

Roderich could tell that Lovino was trying desperately not to lash out on him. "Sorry, I thought you were someone else."

"Do I want to know who?"

"Ja."

Lovino's voice grew concerned. "Then who?"

"Who do you think would anger me like that?"

Lovino thought for a moment before answering. "Gilbert?"

Roderich chuckled. "No, no. Not Gilbert."

"Then I'm stumped." Lovino replied.

"It was the kidnappers."

Lovino went silent on the other end of the phone. "Oh." Lovino cleared his throat. "What's going on?"

Roderich sighed. "In a week, I will give them my fortune in exchange for Ludwig. And, I will be going alone this time."

"What about Arthur?" Lovino whispered.

"There's nothing I can do for him. I offered the kidnappers a few things, but they just kept saying that I'm not affiliated with him, so I can't help him."

"Dammit." Lovino whispered.

"Lovino?"

"Yes."

Roderich paused before continuing. "I think they're watching Matthew."

"What?" Lovino exclaimed.

"They know Matthew is in the hospital."

Lovino cleared his throat again. "O-Okay… I should let Francis know of that."

"Oh, okay." Roderich replied awkwardly. "So I guess I'll see you when you get here? You're headed home soon, right?"

"Uh, yes." Lovino took a deep breath. "Yes, you will see me when I get there."

"Okay. Goodbye Lovino."

"Goodbye."

"Be safe." Roderich instructed.

Lovino chuckled. "I will Roderich."

.

Lovino hung up the phone, and placed it in his pocket. He turned over to Francis, who was now sitting next to Matthew's bed, and listening to him. Lovino had to tell them that the kidnappers were watching them. "Francis, may I talk to you for a minute?"

Francis looked up at Lovino with his light blue eyes that were filled with both happiness and pain. "Oui." He answered, standing and walking back over to Lovino. "What's going on?"

Lovino didn't know how to tell someone that they were being watched, so he just said it. "I think you're being watched."

Francis glanced over his shoulder. "Alfred, stop messing with Matthew's I.V.!" Francis exclaimed.

"What's an I.V.?" Alfred replied.

"The tube in his arm. Stop playing with it!"

"I'm sorry, Dad." Alfred mumbled.

Francis looked back at Lovino puzzled. "Children, mon dieu." Francis mumbled, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Anyway, who's watching him?"

"The kidnappers." Lovino made it sound obvious.

Francis quickly looked around the setting, suspiciously, then he looked back at Matthew and Alfred. Francis turned back to Lovino, his eyes wide with fear. "What should I do?"

Lovino rubbed the back of his neck. "Not to tell you how to take care of your children, but do not let them out of your sight." Lovino instructed, pointing at the seven year old twins.

"Of course, I was already planning on doing that." Francis replied.

"Oh, do not get police involved either."

Francis tilted his head to the side. "Why not?"

"They'll probably kill Arthur."

Francis' blue eyes filled up with tears. "Arthur is alive?"

Lovino stared blankly at Francis for a moment, then nodded. "Well, last I checked. He's not in the best condition, but he's alive."

"What was his condition?"

Lovino's eyebrows drew together, and he cleared his throat. He did not want to answer this question. "He was beaten everyday I was there." Lovino whispered slowly.

Tears rolled down Francis' face, as he covered his mouth with his right hand.

"But," Lovino began, "I want you to know that Arthur wouldn't stop talking about you, Matthew and Alfred the whole time I was there. You three are his entire world."

Francis nodded. "Thank you, Lovino." Francis pulled out a card with scribbled numbers on it. "Keep me posted, okay." He mumbled.

Lovino looked down at the phone number written on the piece of napkin. "Of course, Francis."

Francis turned, and walked back over to his sons, sitting back down in the chair beside Matthew's bed. "Stay safe, Lovino."

"I'll try," Lovino began, turning halfway out of the door, "You too... All three of you." He said, pointing. Then, he turned, walked out the door, through the hospital, to his car, and drove home.


	13. The Final Deal

Chapter 13

The Final Deal

The door to the small, underground cellar opened quickly, and a small tray of food was placed on the floor. The door closed. Ludwig looked over at it, then turned back to Arthur. He could get the food later, right now he just had to help Arthur, who was barely conscious. Ludwig looked at the huge, deep gash on the man's right rib cage, that was still bleeding. He had to stop the bleeding. Ludwig stared down at his pants, that he had torn all the way up to the knees so he could make makeshift bandages from them. Ludwig then began to tear at the seam on his right sleeve. After successfully tearing the clothing from his sleeve, the began to wrap it around Arthur's wound. He tied the improvised bandaged tightly around Arthur's side.

"Ow… Stop… that hurts…" Arthur moaned quietly.

Ludwig tightened the cloth more. "I'm sorry, Arthur," Ludwig began, "but I need to stop the bleeding."

Arthur grunted in pain as Ludwig tightened the bandage. "This isn't necessary…" Arthur whispered.

Ludwig stopped, mid-tie of the bandage, and stared down at Arthur's pale face, and his dark, empty green eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

"You don't... have to do this…" Arthur panted.

Ludwig finished tying the cloth around Arthur. "You're right, but it's necessary for your survival."

"Do you really think… you can..." Arthur paused to catch his breath, "...save me?"

Ludwig looked down at Arthur. Yes, he was stopping Arthur from bleeding out, but that really didn't do too much. It didn't bring any color back to his ghost-white face, it didn't bring any light to his empty eyes, and it didn't bring any will back to this hopeless man. Ludwig decided to ignore Arthur's question, and go and get the food that sat across the small, underground cellar.

"Well?" Arthur asked quietly as Ludwig sat back down beside him.

"Well what?"

Arthur stared at Ludwig, his green eyes almost looking black, they're so dark. "Nevermind." Arthur whispered.

Ludwig began to tear the sandwich into smaller pieces so Arthur could eat it better. "Arthur." Ludwig said, "You need to eat."

Arthur held out a bloodstained hand. "Here." He choked.

Ludwig placed the pieces of sandwich on Arthur's right hand that was cracked with dried blood.

"Thank you…"

Ludwig nodded. "You're welcome, Arthur. I just wish I could do more."

"You're… you're doing more than enough." Arthur panted.

Ludwig gave Arthur a kind look, then took one of the two small cups of water, and sipped from it.

"Oh, God." Arthur cried. "What am I going to do?"

Ludwig looked over to Arthur, who had tears rolling down his colorless face. "What? What's wrong?"

"They're going to kill them!" He sobbed. "All of them!"

Ludwig knew exactly who he was talking about. Arthur was talking about his family.

"They already killed Matthew! He's only seven!"

"No! You don't know that! Lovino could be alive, he probably lead police to where Matthew is, Matthew is probably safe." Ludwig prayed that he was right.

"They probably killed Lovino like they killed Peter." Arthur mumbled.

Ludwig had no proof that they didn't kill Lovino, he only had hope. Hope that was dying more and more with each passing day. Just like Arthur Kirkland.

The door opened.

Ludwig and Arthur both froze.

Arthur pretended to be unconscious, just like Ludwig told him to a few day's ago.

Ludwig stood up.

"Beilschmidt, get out of the way."

"He's unconscious." Ludwig lied.

"Really, then were you talking to yourself or the wall just a minute ago?"

Ludwig narrowed his eyes. "I talk to myself a lot."

"Really? Then why was Arthur screaming about the family I've already killed?"

Arthur began to sob again.

"Get out of the way, and let me get Arthur."

"No." Ludwig hissed.

"This isn't a negotiation, get out of my way, and let me get Arthur."

Ludwig lost his temper. "Not while I'm still conscious!" He screamed louder than ever.

The man took a step closer to Ludwig, adjusting his rifle in his hands. "I can arrange that."

The man with the scar lunged forward, towards Ludwig. Ludwig tried to jump out of the way of the butt-end of the rifle, but it hit him right in the jaw with such a powerful force, Ludwig was unconscious before he hit the ground.

Ludwig woke up from unconsciousness to see no one across the room from him. Ludwig began to worry. Arthur could have been gone only seconds, or he could have been gone hours. Ludwig continued to worry when hours passed, and Arthur didn't get thrown back into the small cellar. Ludwig was unable to stop pacing when Arthur didn't return in a whole day. Finally, Ludwig's hope died. Just like Arthur Kirkland.

.

_One Week Later_

Roderich walked through the familiar alleyways behind the strip mall on Walter Road. The shadows weren't much different, actually nothing was really different, except this time Roderich knew where he was going, and this time Roderich wasn't nearly as nervous. He was alone this time, he drove himself, and is walking here by himself. No one hiding in the shadows waiting to get stabbed, no one in a car waiting to get into an accident. Just him. Alone.

Roderich clutched the Edelstein fortune in his right hand, and walked with his left hand in his pocket. He saw the familiar figure that he saw last time, waiting for him.

"Roderich." The figure greeted, his identity completely disguised.

Roderich stopped in his tracks, forcing himself not to insult them. Lovino had warned him that they didn't like being insulted. "Evening." Roderich greeted with a nod.

"Got the fortune?"

Roderich shook his briefcase. "Of course I do."

The man took a couple steps forward. "And no tricks this time?"

Roderich shook his head. "Wouldn't dare try."

"Take three steps forward, place the money on the ground, and take three steps back."

"Give me Ludwig." Roderich demanded.

The man chuckled. "You still think you're runnin' the show?"

Roderich chuckled as well. "No, I don't. I think maybe we should do what we did last time. Meet me halfway with Ludwig."

The man stared at him for what felt like forever, before he finally whistled over his shoulder.

Another man with blonde hair approached with Ludwig, who was blindfolded and gagged. Roderich narrowed his eyes in confusion when he noticed Ludwig's pants were torn all the way up to each knee, he no longer had any sleeves and Ludwig's torn clothes were blood stained.

"Three steps forward, Edelstein."

Roderich took three steps forward, but didn't place the money on the ground.

"Well?" The man asked.

Roderich narrowed his eyes. "Ludwig. Meet me here with Ludwig. That was the deal."

"Fine." The man growled. "Take Ludwig three steps closer."

The blonde lead Ludwig three steps closer, just out of Roderich's reach.

Roderich placed the money on the alley's pavement, right as thunder cracked overhead. Roderich straightened his back, looking up at the blonde man. "Give me Ludwig." He hissed.

The blonde man looked back at the disguised man. The disguised man nodded slowly and ominously. The blonde pushed Ludwig towards Roderich, who caught him.

The blonde man picked up the briefcase, looked inside and made sure there was money in it, then turned and disappeared into the shadows.

"Pleasure doing business with you, now go, Edelstein, before I kill you both."

Roderich nodded. "Of course." He hissed, walking backwards. There was no way Roderich would turn his back on these bastards.

Roderich turned the corner, ungagged and unblindfolded Ludwig, then ran to his car. "How hurt are you?" Roderich asked after getting in the car, turning it on, and driving away.

"Not bad." Ludwig answered.

"How bad is not bad?"

Ludwig let out an exasperated sigh. "Um, my head hurts. I'm dizzy and pretty nauseous, but besides that, I'm fine."

"Sound's like a concussion."

"Wouldn't surprise me if I had one."

Roderich stopped at the familiar four-way stop. "I'm taking you to the hospital to get your head checked out. Also Feli's been worried sick about you."

Ludwig looked over at Roderich. "Why would Feliciano be at the hospital?"

Roderich stared forward at the road, not wanting to answer Ludwig's question.

"Why is Feli at the hospital?"

Roderich sighed. "He slammed his car into the kidnapper's car to save Lovino."

Ludwig covered his face with both hands. "Mein Gott." He whispered. "How is he?"

Roderich glanced at Ludwig, then looked back to the road. "He has a severe concussion, a fractured ankle, two broken ribs, his shoulder used to be dislocated, but the doctors relocated it, and his back and neck hurt, but there's nothing broken."

Ludwig ran his fingers through his messy, dirty blonde hair. "But he's going to be okay?"

Roderich gave Ludwig a reassuring smile. "Of course, Ludwig. He might be cowardly, but he's very strong. He'll be fine."

Roderich and Ludwig rode the rest of the way to the hospital in silence.

.

"Evening, sir." Roderich greeted, acting like everything was normal, acting like nothing happened, acting like he wasn't negatively affiliated with some sort of mafia.

The clerk at the front desk looked up with a neutral expression. "Evening." He said, speaking in a very thick Norwegian accent. "What do you need, sir?" The clerk asked, running his fingers through his white-blonde hair.

"My friend over there," Roderich said, nodding to Ludwig, "is…" Roderich broke off. He hadn't come up with a lie to tell. He cleared his throat. "Is having some symptoms of a concussion, and I would like to get a doctor to take a look at him."

The man gave him an expressionless stare for just long to make Roderich nervous. The clerk turned away and grabbed some paperwork. "Is your friend severely injured?"

"No, just symptoms."

The secretary nodded. "Okay, sir, you will need to fill this paperwork out, then give it back to me."

"Of course." Roderich said before grabbing the paperwork, turning on his heels, and walking away.

"What's going on?" Ludwig asked as Roderich strode up.

"You need to fill out this paperwork." Roderich handed the papers and a pen to Ludwig, who started writing immediately.

Roderich stared forward, wondering why it suddenly seemed so easy to block out the terrible memories from just a week ago. Roderich hadn't visited that "nothing" that he couldn't keep his mind out of just last week, but this week his mind hadn't even tried to drift back into it, even when he kind of wanted it to.

Roderich shook his head, then looked to Ludwig. When he was in the alley on Walter Road, he realized Ludwig was covered in dried blood, but considering how well Ludwig was moving around, and how little pain he seemed to be in, that couldn't be his blood staining his shirt and hands.

"Why are you stained with blood?" Roderich asked in fluent German.

Ludwig snapped his head up and looked over to Roderich. "Huh?" He asked.

Roderich continued to speak in German. "The blood. Is that yours?" Roderich tilted his head to the side.

Ludwig looked down at his shirt, to his hands, then back to Roderich. "Nein. This isn't my blood."

"Who's is it?"

Ludwig's eyes seemed to turn dark as he looked to the ground. "Arthur's." He mumbled quietly.

Roderich didn't want to ask this question, but he asked it anyway. "Is Arthur okay?"

"Nein."

"Is Arthur alive."

Ludwig stayed silent for a long moment before finally answering. "Nein."

Roderich ran his fingers through his dark brown hair with a sigh.

"Well at least I think so."

Roderich looked back to Ludwig. "What do you mean?"

Ludwig cleared his throat, before continuing to speak his native language. "Last time I saw Arthur, he was in terrible shape… He couldn't take another beating like that… But they beat him again anyway… I never saw him after that."

"They beat him?"

"Ja."

Roderich narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

Ludwig looked up at the ceiling. "Something about money. They wanted a huge amount of money… Money his family doesn't have. So they kept beating him, trying to get him to pay, even though he couldn't… So they beat him to death… For fun."

Roderich dropped his head into the palms of his hands. "So he's dead?"

"Most likely." Ludwig concluded, his voice sounding empty.

Roderich uncovered his face and sat up, looking over at the filled-out paperwork in Ludwig's hands. "Well we'd better go turn that in."

Ludwig looked over at Roderich, obviously caught off guard by his voice. "Ja, okay." He said, standing.

.

"So what exactly happened?" The doctor said, standing in front of Ludwig.

"He was mugged." Roderich said on impulse.

The doctor glanced to Roderich, then back to Ludwig.

"Ja, I was mugged."

"Did you get police involved?" The doctor asked.

"Um, I didn't really think it was necessary, they didn't steal anything, and I actually won the fight." Ludwig lied.

"And your shirt?" The doctor asked.

Roderich blinked to the doctor, then to Ludwig.

Ludwig looked down at his shirt, then back up. "Paint." He lied. "I was helping Mr. Edelstein paint his house."

"Your hands."

Ludwig looked at the blood on his hands. "Not my blood. I punched them both in the face multiple times. This is their blood."

The doctor nodded. "Anyway, what are your symptoms?"

Roderich blinked to Ludwig, then to the doctor.

"Um, I'm dizzy, mostly when I'm standing or walking though. I'm nauseous, and my head is pounding."

The doctor scribbled a few things down in his notebook, then looked back to Ludwig. "Alright, Mr. Beilschm-schmidt, it sounds to me that you have a concussion, which is what you guessed, correct?"

"Ja." Roderich and Ludwig said simultaneously.

"Do not take any medication, especially relaxants of any kind. No driving or operating any heavy machinery, and you can sleep, but you need to be woken up every hour."

Ludwig nodded. "I understand. Thank you, doctor."

The doctor gave Ludwig and Roderich both a bright smile. "Come on." He said, leading them out of the room.

Roderich walked down the hallway parallel to Ludwig. Roderich wasn't sure what to do now. He paid the kidnappers, got Ludwig, all he needed to do was wait for Feliciano to get out of the hospital, and his life would be as normal as it possibly could. Well, at least, after Elizabeva's funeral. It has been an entire week since his mind even tried to drift back into that haze that took away the pain of it all for just a few blissful moments. Roderich felt something on his shoulder.

"Roderich." Ludwig demanded.

Roderich turned, looking his cousin in his sky blue eyes. "What?"

"You didn't hear me, did you?"

Roderich felt guilty. This whole time he had kept himself in his own mind, just for it to fade back into nothing the very second he found out Ludwig was going to be okay. "I'm sorry, but I didn't. Could you please repeat that?"

Ludwig looked down with a sigh. "Am I in the same hospital as Feli?"

Roderich nodded.

"Can you give me his room number?"

Roderich shook his head. "No, I-"

"What?" Ludwig yelled, snapping his head up and looking at Roderich in anger.

"Calm down and let me finish. I'm headed there myself. You reminded me that I should see him."

"Oh. Sorry."

Roderich waved his hand in dismissal. "Oh, it's fine." Ludwig yelling at him was the best thing that has happened all week.

They walked back down the hallway, to the elevator, and to Feliciano's room in silence.

As Roderich walked up, he noticed that Feliciano's door was open, but he lights were dimmed, almost as if he was sleeping. Roderich stood in the doorway with Ludwig standing parallel to him. A nurse was bent over beside Feliciano's bed, and she was mumbling something. Feliciano mumbled something back. Roderich lightly knocked on the door, and the nurse turned.

"Oh, Mr. Vargas," She started, turning back to Feliciano, "You have company."

Roderich removed his jacket, and handed it to Ludwig. "Put this on and button it up." He ordered.

"Why?" Ludwig asked.

"Do you really want Feli to see you covered in someone else's blood?"

Ludwig started to put the jacket on. "No." He said, buttoning it.

"You can come in." Feliciano said tiredly.

Roderich took a step back, moving out of the nurses way, then walked in, Ludwig directly behind him. Roderich sat down in the recliner, and Ludwig sat in a nearby chair.

"Ludwig!" Feliciano exclaimed, reaching his right arm out, gesturing for Ludwig to get up and hug him.

Ludwig stood up and hugged Feliciano tightly.

"Ow." Feliciano mumbled.

Ludwig broke away from the hug. "What? What's wrong?"

Feliciano shook his head. "Nothing. Just my ribs hurt."

"Oh mein Gott, I'm so sorry!"

Feliciano gave Ludwig a bright smile, showing him his teeth. "It's okay, Ludwig. I'm so glad you're safe."

"You're missing teeth?" Ludwig asked.

Roderich's eyes widened. "Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you. He's missing three teeth."

Ludwig turned back to Roderich. "Well I can see that, _now_."

"I'm sorry," Roderich said, crossing his arms, "but of everything else that he hurt, I think his missing teeth is the least important."

Ludwig narrowed his eyes.

"Ludwig, it's okay." Feliciano said, smiling up at him. "I'm going to get fake teeth once I get out of the hospital."

About an hour passed, and Ludwig was now sitting in his chair beside Feliciano, holding his hand gently in both of his. Roderich just stared forward at the wall, fighting to keep himself coherent.

"Wait a minute," Ludwig started, breaking the silence. "shouldn't you be getting home to Elizabeva? She must be worried."

Roderich closed his eyes, forcing himself not to cry. He had to keep his composure, but how could he? Elizabeva, the love of his life, was dead. How the hell could he keep his composure? Roderich dropped his head into his hands, as he felt warm tears begin to travel down his cheeks, and into his palms.

"Uh, Ludwig," Feliciano began awkwardly, leaning over to Ludwig. "Elizabeva was… Killed."

Roderich winced at the last word, more tears rolling down his face. Roderich felt a hand on his right shoulder, so he looked over.

Ludwig looked at Roderich with kind, sympathetic eyes. "I'm so sorry, Roderich. I didn't know."

Roderich shook his head, forcing himself to stop crying, and wiping his tears away. "There's no way you could have." Roderich replied, waving his right hand dismissively.

Right as Roderich pulled himself together, and rebuilt his wall of composure, a loud knock pounded on the door.

Feliciano stared up at the door, in both confusion and fear. "Come in."

The door swung open, Lovino strode in, and quickly closed the door behind him. Lovino angrily pointed at Roderich. "You were supposed to call me and tell me when you got Ludwig!" He yelled.

Roderich put up his hands in submission. "I'm sorry. I forgot."

Lovino then looked up to Ludwig, and pointed at him angrily. "Are you hurt?"

Roderich then realized how strange it was that Lovino could make his concern sound so threatening, but he always seemed to find a way to always sound furious.

Ludwig then shook his head. "Nein, I'm fine. I have a mild concussion, but I'm fine."

Lovino closed his eyes tightly, rubbing the bridge of his nose and mumbling something under his breath in Italian.

"Well I can see that current events haven't changed you, Lovino." Ludwig teased.

Lovino's eyes snapped open. "Listen, Ludwig, you have no idea how furious I am at you!"

"Why are you mad at him?" Roderich asked, tilting his head to his right side.

Lovino gave Roderich a glare then looked back at Ludwig. "Because…" Lovino trailed off, looking over at Feliciano. Lovino cleared his throat, straightened his back, and placed his hands in his pockets. "Nevermind." He mumbled.

Feliciano raised his eyebrows in concern, but said nothing.

Out of the corner of his eye, Roderich saw Lovino's head snap back to Ludwig. "What about Arthur? Where's Arthur?"

Ludwig opened his mouth, but said nothing. He closed his eyes, clearing his throat. "Arthur is dead."

Roderich adjusted in his chair, staring at Lovino to see his response. Surprisingly, Lovino hadn't started screaming yet, but he could see the anger building up inside of Lovino.

There was a knock at the door.

"Dead?" Lovino asked through grit teeth.

"Ja." Ludwig concluded.

"You can come in." Feliciano stated, answering the knock at the door.

Lovino's anger exploded. "How the fu-"

Roderich jumped up and slammed his hand against Lovino's mouth, muffling the last of his sentence. "Hello, Doctor." Roderich gave the doctor a fake, innocent smile. "As you can see, we're stressed in here."

Roderich looked at Lovino, who was giving him a powerful, hate-filled glare. Lovino ripped Roderich's hand off his mouth. "You have no idea." Lovino hissed, still glaring at Roderich.

Roderich gave Lovino a nervous smile, then grabbed Lovino by the shoulders, and directed him to the chair. "Sit." Roderich ordered. "Breathe. Calm down."

Lovino continued his glare, then exhaled through grit teeth.

"Evening, Doctor." Feliciano greeted.

"Evening, Mr. Vargas."

Roderich's phone rang. "Mein, Gott, I'm sorry." Roderich apologised, looking down at the contact number that came up. Gilbert. "I have to take this. I will be right back." Roderich stepped out of the room.

"Hello." Roderich greeted, putting the phone to his ear.

"Hello." Gilbert replied. "Have-"

"Oh, we have Ludwig." Roderich interrupted, "He's fine, except he has a mild concussion, but nothing that's not manageable."

"Thank Gott." Gilbert breathed. "Where are you?"

"In Feli's room. You should head up here, everyone else is."

"Speaking of everyone else," Gilbert began sheepishly, "have you seen or heard from Feliks or Toris?"

Roderich froze, fear traveling up and down his spine. "No. Weren't they supposed to be at your house about an hour and a half ago?"

"Ja, but they never showed up."

Roderich nearly dropped his phone, but he managed to keep a hold of it.

"I've tried calling them, but I've gotten no answer." Gilbert said.

Roderich began to pant. He didn't want this to happen again, but of course, this wasn't his family. Neither Feliks nor Toris are related to him, so he is not affiliated with them; he could not help them. Just like Arthur. Or maybe he was being paranoid. Maybe they didn't get kidnapped, and maybe they weren't murdered. But maybe they were. Maybe they were the next two victims, just like Lovino, or worse, like Arthur. Maybe they were going to get beaten to death just for fun. Just out of spite.

"Roderich?" Gilbert asked.

"W-What?"

"Are you okay?"

Roderich narrowed his eyes. "No I'm not okay! What would make you think that I'm okay?"

"Roderich calm down."

Roderich began to breathe heavily. "Gilbert, ju-just get here. Okay?"

"Okay, I'm just about to leave my house. I will be there soon."

"Be careful." Roderich instructed.

"Ja, ja, I will."

"Be _careful_." Roderich emphasized.

Gilbert chuckled his weird little chuckle. "I will Roderich. I will see you in a little bit."

"Alright. See you then."

Gilbert hung up.

Roderich hung up. He turned to enter Feliciano's room again, right as the doctor walked out.

"Gilbert's headed here." Roderich informed the room after closing the door behind him.

Ludwig's eyes light up, and a small smile tore at his lips. "I really want to see him." Ludwig mumbled, looking at the ground.

"How the hell am I supposed to tell Francis that his husband is dead?" Lovino screamed, returning back to the subject from just moments ago.

"Lovino, I'm sorry. I did what I could for him. I was able to keep him from bleeding out, but he couldn't take another beating, but they gave it to him anyway."

Lovino breathed heavily, grinding his teeth together.

"I just pray for that family. They lost Arthur and Matthew…" Ludwig mumbled.

"No." Lovino hissed.

Ludwig looked up at Lovino. "What?"

Lovino let a a quick huff. "Matthew is fine. He has a couple broken fingers, and he had a broken nose, but it's probably healed by now."

"Matthew's safe?" Ludwig exclaimed.

"Safe is a bit of a stretch, at least until we find the kidnappers. But he is with his father and brother."

Roderich's phone rang. "_Verdammt_!" Roderich exclaimed. He pulled his phone out again, and looked at the number. It was Feliks.

"Hello?" Roderich asked.

There was no response on the other end, but a strange humming sound was in the background, along with a loud tapping sound.

"Feliks? You there?"

A response, but Roderich couldn't understand it. It was muffled and in a different language. "_O mój Boże, to cud! Toris to policja! Policja! Czy ty widzisz? Policja!_"

"Feliks? What are you saying? I can't understand you?" Roderich asked.

A response, but Roderich couldn't understand it. It was muffled and in a different language. "_Feliks! Ką tu darai?_"

"Hello?" Roderich exclaimed.

A response, but it was a loud, high-pitched scream, that sounded like it belonged to a woman.

Feliks hung up.

Roderich stood there, dazed from what he had just heard. He had no idea how long he was standing there, but he suddenly felt impact on his face, and his phone fell on the ground. Roderich began rubbing his cheek, then looked to Lovino, who was obviously the one who had slapped him. "Why did you do that?" Roderich yelled.

Lovino glared at him. "Because you didn't respond for nearly an entire minute."

"What happened?" Feliciano asked.

"Well I answered the phone, I heard humming and almost a loud tapping sound that sounded like firecrackers. I heard muffled voices, that I know belonged to Feliks and Toris, but they were speaking a different language. Then I heard a woman scream bloody murder."

"Why would a woman be with them?" Ludwig asked.

"No idea." Roderich replied, dialing Gilbert's number.

"What are you doing?" Lovino asked.

"Calling Gilbert." Roderich said, placing the phone to his ear and listening to it hum.

"Hello? Roderich?"

"Ja, it's me. Anyway, I heard from Feliks and Toris."

"You did?" Gilbert exclaimed.

"Well," Roderich glanced around the room. "kind of."

"What do you mean by 'kind of?'"

Roderich shook his head. "I couldn't understand them. I think they might have been speaking Polish or Lithuanian."

"Makes sense." Gilbert concluded.

"Hey, do you think they may have…" Roderich stopped half way through his sentence.

"Do I think they may have what?" Gilbert asked.

Roderich cleared his throat. "Do you think they may have… Kidnapped a woman?"

Gilbert was silent for a while, then he finally spoke again. "I'm hanging up now."

"No! Gilbert! Please, don't hang up."

"Why the hell would they kidnap a woman? Why would you think that?" Gilbert questioned, his voice turning agitated.

Roderich sighed. "I heard a screaming woman on the other end of the phone when they called."

"And, you think they kidnapped her?"

Roderich dropped his head. "Not really."

He heard Gilbert clear his throat. "Alright. Just wait until I get there, then try calling them again, and see if they will answer."

"Alright."

"Is that all you need?"

Roderich nodded, as if Gilbert could see him. "Yes. Sorry for bothering you."

"It's fine." Gilbert replied.

"Goodbye, Gilbert."

"Auf Wiedersehen." Gilbert hung up.

Roderich hung up.


	14. A Rainy Chase

Chapter 14

A Rainy Chase

Feliks sat curled up in the tightest ball possible, staying completely hidden in the shadows of the car underneath the dashboard. He saw his phone lit up, and he quickly turned it over, hiding its light from the rest of the world.

"So we're really going to do this?" Toris asked nervously.

Feliks gave Toris a fake smile. "Like, totally." He answered, pointing over at Toris.

"Why?"

Feliks gave Toris a wink. "Yolo."

Toris threw his arms into the air. "What the hell is 'yolo?'"

"You only live once." Feliks answered.

"Really?" Toris exclaimed. "We're doing this for thrill?"

"No." Feliks replied. "No, we are doing this to put a family back together." Feliks turned his head away from Toris, and stared into the shadows beneath the passenger seat. "We are doing this to save a good man. A good man with a family who needs him."

Suddenly, Feliks' guilt slammed into him. He was the reason his cousin, might as well be his sister, was dead. Because it was his stupid plan. His idea that endangered and killed his Elizabeva, threw Roderich into grief, forced Feliciano to save his brother and put himself in a terrible car crash, and put Ludwig's life at risk.

Feliks shook his head. _Keep your head on straight, Feliks. _He sat up a little, making sure he wasn't seen, and peeked out the window. He saw men walking to the black car. He saw men pull Ludwig out of it, walk him around the corner, and out of sight.

"Feliks, get down!" Toris whispered worriedly.

Feliks lowered himself and curled back up in the little ball beneath the dashboard. "They can't see me." Feliks reassured.

"You don't know that!"

"Well if they did, they would have shot me."

Toris' eyes widened. "Why are you making that sound like it's okay to get shot?"

Feliks didn't answer. He didn't want to die, but if it meant saving a family, saving this Arthur Kirkland, then it was worth dying for. If he had to take a bullet for Arthur or Toris, he would.

"Feliks…?"

"I'm not saying that." He finally answered.

"Then what are you saying?"

"I'm proving that they didn't see me."

Toris let out a sigh. "How did you talk me into this?"

"I told you that if you didn't come with me, I would go alone… And you know how bad of a driver I am."

Toris let out another sigh.

Feliks propped himself up on the seat, and peered out the window again, making sure he wasn't seen. Men were walking back, two of them talking to each other. One was looking at the wet ground, and the other was looking at the dark clouds above them. Neither one of them were paying attention. _Good, _Feliks thought, _don't see us._ The men entered the black car. They turned the car on. They began to drive out of the alley.

Feliks jumped up into the passenger seat. Toris followed, turned the car on, and drove, trailing behind the kidnappers at a safe, unsuspecting distance.

Feliks watched the road, glancing at every sign they passed, and writing down the name of every street they turned onto. Every time he would glance at the digital clock attached to the radio, only minutes passed. It was almost like time didn't want to continue, and was slowing to a stop. He felt his eyelids begin to droop as tiredness swept over him.

"Wake me up in an hour." He yawned.

"What?" Toris exclaimed. "No, you need to be writing down road names!"

Feliks moaned and repositioned himself in his seat. "Fine, but I can't feel my butt."

"Wha-? How is this information I need to know?"

"I don't know." Feliks replied with a shrug. "I thought you might be interested."

Toris didn't reply, but in the darkness of the car, Feliks could see him blush and shake his head.

Once again. time crept along, almost as if it was dying, but an hour eventually passed. They began driving through a small town, the exact way the kidnappers were going. The light they were approaching turned yellow. The kidnappers sped up. Even if Toris sped up, they wouldn't have made the light, so they stopped.

"Toris." Feliks mumbled.

Toris looked over at him. "Hm? What is it, Feliks?"

Feliks didn't reply for a moment, but he looked Toris up in his bright blue eyes. "Hey, I realized that we could die. Like, _die._"

"Yes, Feliks. We could."

"Well, just in case we do, I want you to know… _Kocham cię, Toris, i zawsze będzie ... Bez względu na to, co dzieje się dziś w nocy._"

Toris stared at him, then a smile formed on his face. "_Aš myliu tave taip pat, Feliks... Amžinai._"

Silence formed between the two as they sat there contently, staring up at the red light, waiting impatiently for it to turn green.

"Toris, if we live through this, will you marry me?" Feliks said quickly on impulse. Feliks closed his eyes tightly, begging that Toris didn't hear it, begging that what he just said was in his mind and just a hopeful thought.

"Yes."

Feliks snapped his head over to Toris. "Wha-What?"

"I will marry you, Feliks…" Toris looked over at him. "But it doesn't matter, though, because I like to believe that we're already married. Unofficially, of course… Because… If we're going to die… I want to die with you being my husband…"

Feliks stared over at the love of his life. "Only if you will be my husband." Feliks whispered, tears in his eyes.

Toris nodded. "Of course I will, Feliks."

The light turned green.

.

The thunder cracked overhead as rain pelted the small, four-door, silver car. It had barely rained all week, but now the water seemed almost limitless. The windshield wipers never stopped moving, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth…

Toris drove the whole 70 miles an hour that he was supposed to go. He had to keep up with them.

Feliks still sat in the passenger seat, staring forward at the road, not even noticing the annoying sound of the windshield wipers. His tiredness faded and turned into restlessness. He just wanted to get this over with. If he was going to get shot dead by kidnappers, he wanted to get it over with. If he was going to save Arthur Kirkland, he wanted to get it over with.

The small, unsuspecting black car in front of them began to slow as it approached a small side road. Feliks could feel the car slow, he could feel it turn, but he was no longer watching the road. He quickly scribbled the name of the street on his sheet of paper.

Toris slowly followed, trying to look inconspicuous. Feliks' chest tightened. When they were on the side roads, they had to be more careful than ever. It might be possible for two people to be traveling on the same highway, at the same time, in the same lane for four hours straight. But the side roads were the dangerous part.

Another turn. A right turn. Feliks wrote down the name of the street.

No more turns. The road became gravel, that became dirt.

An abandoned old barn appeared in the distance.

Toris stopped the car right before the clearing, staying hidden beneath the shadows of the trees. "Well, we found it." Toris whispered.

Feliks nodded. "Yes, that's it." Feliks' voice was trembling with each word, but he forced his hands to stop shaking.

Only a few moments passed before they saw headlights pointed at them. The car they were following was now facing them.

"Uh, Toris…" Feliks breathed.

Toris pushed the car's shift into reverse. "Yes, I know. I'm working on it!"

Toris slammed down on the pedal with his foot, and the car screeched away… Backwards.

The black car followed them, quickly gaining. "Toris! They're gaining on us!" Feliks screamed.

"I know! I know!"

"The car moves much faster in drive than it does in reverse!"

"I know!" Toris screamed loudly. Once the road got wide enough, Toris spun the wheel quickly, the tires screeching on the gravel, and put the car in drive. Only seconds later, Feliks and Toris both heard the rapid, endless sound of shooting.

"Dammit!" Toris yelled, looking in the rearview mirror.

Toris made a quick left.

Feliks' body jerked, slamming his head against the window. "Ow," Feliks complained, rubbing his head, "that was my head!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Feliks could see Toris double-take in his direction. "Why isn't your seatbelt on?" Toris yelled.

"I-"

"Put your seatbelt on!"

"Toris, I'll be-"

"I will turn this car around!" Toris threatened.

The gunshots around them seemed to grow louder as fear rose in Feliks' chest. "No!" He begged, grabbing a hold of the strap. "Don't turn this car around! Don't! Don't turn-" Feliks desperately tugged at the strap, but the buckle locked, and Feliks was unable to pull it forward. "It won't work!" Feliks screamed.

"Feliks, calmly buckle yourself in." Toris instructed.

Feliks took a deep breath, and calmly pulled the strap around himself, and buckled.

A bullet crashed through the back windshield, and through the front. They both froze.

"I can't see!" Toris exclaimed, squinting, trying to look through the cracked glass.

Feliks leaned forward and pushed some of the glass out of the car, then he bent down, ripped his shoe off his foot, and threw it at the cracked glass in front of Toris, knocking the glass out of the way of Toris' view, and into his face, and sending ice cold rain into the vehicle.

"That was my face!" Toris yelled, taking his hands off of his face and swerving the car to stay on the road. "A little warning next time!"

"I'm sorry!" Feliks yelled back, while removing his other shoe, turning, and throwing it at the cracked back window. The glass fell onto the trunk of the car.

"What the hell?"

"What?" Feliks asked. "Now you can see out your back windshield."

"Yeah, but so can they! Now they have a clear shot of us!"

Feliks stared forward. "Whoops…"

"Whoops?" Toris repeated angrily. "I swear, Feliks, if we live through this I will-"

"Marry me?" Feliks interrupted.

Toris gave Feliks a side glare. "You bet your nice, Polish ass I will." He hissed.

More bullets flew past them, closer and more accurate than earlier. Feliks began to sweat nervously. "Can I freak out now?" He asked Toris.

Toris gave Feliks a quick side glance. "No! If you freak out, then I'll freak out! And I'm the one driving!"

The black car that was chasing them slammed their front bumper into the back of their car.

"Dammit!" Toris yelled.

Feliks realized that he knew exactly where he was, and he knew how to use it to his advantage. "Turn right!" Feliks screamed.

"What?"

"Turn right!"

"Why?"

"JUST TURN!"

Toris took a sharp, swift right turn onto another highway.

"Why did I make that turn?" Toris demanded angrily.

"There is a cop in this road, if we go speeding past them while they're shooting at us, we will gain his attention."

But the road was empty. The rain that pelted their faces only seemed to grow heavier. The police car nor the policeman were in their usual spots.

"Where the hell is he?" Feliks mumbled in fear. He felt the warmth of Toris' hand wrap around his own and squeeze it so tightly it hurt. But Feliks didn't care. "We're going to die." Feliks whispered, accepting his fate.

"We're not going to die." Toris replied as calmly as possible while rubbing his thumb over Feliks' hand.

Feliks looked out the window, no longer looking out of the hole in the car that used to be the windshield. "Yes we are."

Feliks saw a car turn its lights on in the distance. Feliks' eyes widened. "Oh my God, it's a miracle! Toris the police! Police! Do you see? Police!" Feliks screamed in fluent Polish. Feliks ripped his hand away from Toris', and unbuckled himself.

"Feliks! What are you doing?" Toris screamed in his native language of Lithuanian.

Feliks rolled down the window completely, leaned out of it, flailed his arms, and screamed bloody murder as they passed the police car. Feliks quickly and clumsily turned back into his seat when he felt a stab of pain through his face, as a bullet sliced through his right cheek. Feliks covered the right side of his face, panting.

"What happened?" Toris demanded.

Feliks felt his face with his hands, making sure that he was okay. "Just a close call."

Feliks heard Toris sigh in relief. "Thank God! I thought you were-" Toris was cut himself off with a pain filled inhale. He bit his lip, his breath quivering. He was trying not to scream in pain.

Feliks desperately grabbed at squeezed Toris' hand. "What happened?"

Toris shook his head.

"What happened?"

"I need my hand back." Toris replied.

Feliks let go of Toris' hand, who lowered his left arm, and steered the car with his right. "What happened?" Feliks demanded.

Toris shook his head again.

Feliks sat there, staring at Toris with an expressionless stare.

"Feliks, I'm going to pull over, when I do, you need to duck."

"What about you? The steering wheel is in the way."

"I will lay down on my right side, okay?"

Feliks nodded.

"Okay. On three. One. Two. Three." Toris pulled over quickly, slamming on the breaks.

Feliks ducked down, hiding himself again. Toris laid on his right side like he promised.

Bullets hit the side of the car and shattered the windows as the black car flew by them. Feliks sat up. "We're alive?"

Toris sat up with a grunt, holding the left side of his chest, up by his collar bone. "Yes."

Feliks opened his car door, ran around the car, and opened Toris' door.

"What are you doing?" Toris asked.

Feliks took his outer jacket off, folded it up, and pressed it against Toris' shot wound. Toris replied with a loud grunt.

The sound of a door opening and closing made Feliks jump and look up. A tall, platinum blonde police officer jogged up.

"Call an ambulance." Feliks ordered the officer.

The officer looked down at Feliks, then to Toris. "How injured are you, sir?" He asked in a slight Russian accent.

"I was shot." Toris whispered. His face was pale and twisted in pain. His body was shaking. He was going into shock.

"What exactly happened?" The officer asked.

Feliks took Toris' free hand, and pressed it against the jacket on his shoulder. "We were following the kidnappers who took Lovino Vargas, Peter Oxenstierna, Arthur Kirkland, Matthew Kirkland, and Ludwig Beilschmidt. They spotted us, chased us, and shot at us."

"Alright, sir. I will be right back with a medical kit. There's not much I can do except help with the bleeding." The policeman replied.

"Okay, thank you." Toris grunted.

"Do you mind if I call an ambulance while you're doing that?" Feliks called after the cop.

"No, no. I'll get it. Just give me a moment." The officer replied, not looking back at them.

Feliks sat on the road, leaning against his car, and stared forward.

"You okay?" Toris asked.

Feliks shook his head, tears in his eyes. "We almost died." He whispered.

"Well, yeah," Toris began, "but we didn't."

"You almost died. If they aimed a little lower, that would have been your lung."

"Yes, but if they aimed a little to the left, that would have been…" Toris trailed off.

"My head?" Feliks finished for him, rubbing the deep scratch on his cheek that would probably need stitches.

"Yeah…" Toris replied softly.

"And it would have been my fault."

Toris glared down at Feliks. "What is with you and blaming yourself?"

"Liza's dead because of my plan."

"No. She died because they killed her!"

"I put her there."

"They kidnapped Lovino!"

Feliks looked away.

"Listen, Feliks. I am alive right now because of you."

Feliks rolled his eyes. "How so?"

"You told me to make the right turn, and we found the police officer that I had forgotten all about."

Right on cue, the Russian accented police officer jogged over again. "Ambulance in on it's way."

"Thank you, officer." Feliks mumbled.

The officer knelt down in front of Toris. "Please," he said, moving Feliks' jacket out of the way and pulling back Toris' shirt, "Call me Ivan. I'm not into formalities."

"Okay, thank you, Ivan."

Ivan wrapped up Toris' injury they best he could with his medical kit, and the ambulance full of paramedics arrived. They put Toris in the gurney, strapped him in, and put him in the ambulance, with the words "Feliks, I will be fine. I will meet you in my room after I wake up from the anesthesia" in Feliks' head. More police arrived before Ivan finally asked him what had happened again. Feliks repeated his story, exactly how he said it the first time.

"And do you know their location?" Ivan asked.

"I have directions in my pocket." Feliks answered with a smug look.


	15. The End of It

Chapter 15

The End of It

Roderich sat in his chair opposite to Ludwig, watching Lovino pace from one side of the room, back to the other. Roderich was focusing on Lovino's stride pattern to keep himself coherent, to pay attention to something. Eventually, he glanced up from Lovino's stride to see Ludwig following Lovino's pacing pattern exactly like Roderich was… except Ludwig looked annoyed rather than focused.

"Lovino," Ludwig started, holding back his anger, "could you stop your pacing?"

Lovino stopped in his tracks and glared down at Ludwig. "Are we really going to have this fight again?"

Roderich tilted his head to the side. "Again?"

Roderich heard Lovino let out an angry, exasperated sigh. "I'm not telling the story."

Ludwig cleared his throat, and readjusted himself in his chair. "Lovino was pacing in the cell we were in before they took us to that barn. We were thinking of a plan, and Lovino was distracting me with his pacing, and if it weren't for Arthur we would have started throwing… punches…" The end of Ludwigs sentence was sad and empty… Arthur, who was a good, strong man was dead.

Roderich looked over to Lovino. "I need to call Francis, even if I don't know what to say." Lovino began to exit the room, dialing Francis' number, right as his phone rang. "It's Feliks."

"Answer it!" Roderich exclaimed.

Lovino did as he was told and answered the phone, kindly and calmly. "It's about damn time you called us!" He snapped.

There was a knock at the door.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Lovino yelled.

Roderich looked from Lovino, to the knock at the door, and to Feliciano. He wasn't sure where his main focus was supposed to be, so he continued to switch from subject to subject.

"Come in." Feliciano said sweetly.

Roderich looked to Lovino.

"Yeah, I know you didn't go to Gilberts… Like you were supposed to!"

Gilbert threw the door open, and ran, full speed, to Ludwig. "Bruder!" He yelled.

Roderich looked to Feliciano.

Feliciano greeted Gilbert with a smile and a "Good morning, Gil."

Roderich looked to Lovino.

"How many times do I have to tell you… Do NOT tell me to calm down!"

Roderich decided that he should keep his attention on Lovino, for all Gilbert and Feliciano were doing was talking with Ludwig.

"Okay, what happened?" Lovino grumbled.

Roderich watched in silence as he saw the changes in Lovino's facial expressions.

"You followed them?" He exclaimed.

"What happened?" Roderich whispered.

Lovino gave Roderich a glare, holding up his index finger, impling for Roderich to wait. "Are you okay?"

Roderich saw Lovino's eyes close tightly in anger.

"Is Toris okay?"

Roderich glanced to the clock, to the ceiling, then back the his irritated Italian friend.

"A new rotator cuff? Is this really the time for-" Lovino was cut off by something that Feliks must have said.

"What? What's going on?" Roderich asked.

Lovino's glare was filled with more anger, and it lasted longer. "Is he going to be okay?"

"What happened to Toris?" Roderich demanded.

"I swear to God, if you don't shut up!" Lovino yelled, scowling towards Roderich. "No, Feliks, not you I was-" Lovino was cut off. "I was talking to Roderich."

Roderich looked down at the ground, trying to hold back his curiosity.

"Good news? There's such thing as good news?" Lovino replied to something sarcastically.

Roderich looked up.

"Feliks…" Lovino trailed off.

"Wha-" Roderich bit his lip to stop his sentence.

"Feliks, he's dead."

"Who is?" Roderich exclaimed, then immediately regretted his decision to speak.

Lovino turned with a clenched fist, just about to punch Roderich in the face. Roderich flinched, putting his arms up in front of his face in surrender, closing his eyes tightly.

"Lifeflight?" Lovino asked, his body relaxing, and slowly turning away from Roderich, who sat up straight, keeping his eye on Lovino.

"He's…" Lovino trailed off.

Roderich's mind wondered to what Feliks' side of this conversation was. But Lovino's confusion brought his attention back to the present.

"What? You're…" Lovino was cut off again. "Well, uh… Congratulations, I guess. That was a bit random." Lovino listened to what Feliks had to say again. "No, no. You're, uh, fine."

"Alright, goodbye." Lovino hung up.

Roderich didn't want to speak, afraid that Lovino would punch him, but he asked anyway. "What," Roderich cleared his throat, "What happened?"

"Well," Lovino started, "I know where Feliks and Toris are."

"Really? Where?" Feliciano asked.

Lovino placed his phone in his pocket. "A hospital in Colorado. Actually the same one Matthew was in."

"Why?" Ludwig questioned.

"Well, Feliks talked Toris into following you, Roderich, to the back alleyway. They hid in their car, waiting for the 'trade' to finish. Once it was, they followed the kidnappers to a small abandoned barn in the middle of nowhere. The kidnappers spotted them, they got in a car chase- they're both alive- Toris is getting a new rotator cuff because he got shot. And Feliks got five stitches in his right cheek because of a bullet that grazed him."

"A bullet came that close?" Roderich asked protectively.

"Yes."

"Anything else?" Ludwig asked, running his fingers through his still messy blonde hair.

"Uh, yes." Lovino began, "Feliks and Toris are engaged."

"Uh, that's random." Feliciano mumbled, closing his light brown eyes.

Lovino shrugged. "That's what I said."

A silence fell on the group, a silence that was peaceful instead of ominous. It has been a long time since Roderich felt peaceful enough to let his composure down, but not quite.

"Oh, and Ludwig." Lovino began.

Ludwig looked up at him with tired, blue eyes. "What?"

"The reason they followed the kidnappers was to save Arthur… And police found him… Alive… Barely."

"What? Really?"

Lovino nodded. "Yes, the police had to lifeflight him to the nearest hospital, which is where Toris and Feliks are."

Ludwig shook his head. "That man has will, I'll give him that."

"Did Feliks say anything about that phone call he gave us earlier?" Roderich asked, tilting his head to the left.

"Uh, no, I can't believe I forgot to ask. I will ask him when I get to Colorado though. I need to see Arthur, and actually call Francis and make sure he knows." Lovino uttered.

"I would go, but I should stay here." Ludwig stated. "I think I'm too tired for the trip anyway. But send him my get wells."

"Will do," Lovino started. "I'm going to leave now, if that's okay." Lovino finished, looking at Feliciano.

"Yes, that's fine, Lovi."

"Goodbye, Lovino." Roderich said.

"See ya." Lovino replied over his shoulder as he walked out the door.

.

Lovino dialed Francis' number as he turned onto the highway headed to Colorado. The sky was still dark, but the rain had finally stopped, leaving the road to reflect every light that shined. He placed the phone to his ear and listened to it hum. It was answered quickly.

"Hello?" Asked Francis.

"Hey, it's Lovino." Lovino began. "Is this Francis?"

"No, it's the other Frenchman you know." Francis replied sarcastically.

"I might know another Frenchman… You don't know my life."

Lovino heard Francis chuckle on the other end of the phone. "How you can be more sarcastic than Arthur, I will never understand."

"Hey, if it helps, my personality mainly revolves around insults and pure aggression."

Francis chuckled again. "Atleast you know the truth."

"Hey, speaking of Arthur, have you heard about him?" Lovino asked.

"Yes, I'm headed to the airport right now. Why? What have you heard?" Francis exclaimed.

"I just heard that he was found alive. Did you hear anything more?"

"No." Francis mumbled.

A silence built between the two of them for several seconds. "You still there?" Lovino asked.

"Huh? Oh, yes I am. Sorry, I was focusing on the road. Did you say something?"

"No, but I think I'm going to hang up now, we need to focus on driving." Lovino yawned. "Well, do you know how long you'll be?"

"It's about a three hour flight. But like always, there will probably be something to delay us."

Lovino shrugged. "You're right on that one. I will see you at the hospital, I guess, I will probably beat you there."

"Okay, see you then."

"Stay safe." Lovino asserted.

Francis chuckled. "I will. Trust me. You too, okay."

"Alright, I will. Goodbye, Francis."

"Goodbye."

Lovino hung up the phone, and placed it on the console of his car.

.

Lovino paced through the halls of the hospital, looking for the correct room number. Lovino recognised the hallways to be the exact ones he had walked through when he was here with Matthew. He slowed as he walked past the room numbers that lead to Arthur's. Room 423.

Lovino approached the doorway and stopped. A dark brown haired doctor was writing things down on his clipboard before he turned and began to leave the room.

"Morning, señor." The doctor greeted with a bright smile.

Lovino nodded, returning the smile. "Morning, doctor."

As the doctor left, Lovino's watched him go, looking him up and down from behind.

"What are you looking at?" A quiet, raspy voice questioned from inside the room.

Lovino turned, excitement and embarrassment building in his chest. "Arthur! You're awake." Lovino decided to ignore Arthur's question and walked into the room.

"For the time being." Arthur replied.

Arthur's voice was weak, his eyes were dark, his skin was pale, his face was tired. His eyes didn't follow Lovino as he walked in, but, instead they stared off forward, looking almost at nothing. Arthur blinked, and looked over in Lovino's direction.

"So, how are you feeling?" Lovino asked. _Accidenti!_ Lovino thought. _Why do I always ask the stupidest questions? He obviously feels terrible! He's barely alive for God's sake!_

But Arthur gave Lovino a small, simple smile. "Splendid." He replied sarcastically.

"I'm sorry." Lovino apologised. "I need to stop asking that."

"It's okay, Lovino, trust me." Arthur paused to catch his breath. "You worry about me and you don't know how to… help, so you ask if I am okay, even if it may be clear that… I'm not." Arthur took several long inhales. "But, I am feeling pain now, so that's good."

Lovino tilted his head to the side. "How so?"

"Earlier, I was… Well… Dying… And I didn't feel much pain. Which meant I was… Dying."

"Oh, right." Lovino replied awkwardly.

"Hey, uh, Lovino. Can I ask you something? It's a little embarrassing because I know I've already asked the doctor this a few times, but I've forgotten."

"Sure, what is it?"

Arthur hesitated for a moment before continuing. "Where am I?"

"Oh, you're in a hospital."

Arthur gave a true smile. "Right, I knew that…"

"You know, Arthur, Francis is on his way here. He shouldn't be too long now."

Arthur quickly turned his head in Lovino's direction, his dark eyes lighting up. "Really?"

Lovino smiled at him. "Yes, Francis is headed here."

"Do you know if Alfred is too?"

Lovino rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, I'm guessing that he's bringing Alfred and Matthew."

Arthur's lit up eyes darkened in sadness. "Lovino, Matthew is… Dead…"

Lovino shook his head. "No, Matthew is alive."

"What?"

"Because they carjacked me, I knew how to get to the warehouse. I led the police there hoping to find everyone, and we found Matthew."

Arthur's green eyes lightened as tears filled them. "My son is alive? Is he okay? Is he hurt?"

Lovino gave Arthur a reassuring smile. "Matthew is fine. He has three broken fingers, some bruises, and had a broken nose, but I think it's healed by now."

Arthur gathered himself, blinking the tears from his eyes. "So, how are things with your family?"

"Ludwig is safe. All he has are some bruises and a mild concussion. Also…" Lovino trailed off.

Arthur raised one of his thick eyebrows. "Also?"

"Roderich's wife, Elizabeva, was… murdered… by the kidnappers."

"I'm so sorry." Arthur said.

"I didn't know her too well, I only knew her for a year and a half, but it's Roderich that's depressing me… He's not taking it too well. The past week or so, he's pulled himself together so he can get everything fixed with the family, but I'm pretty sure he's going to break down soon."

A few minutes passed before anyone spoke. "Are you a good writer?" Arthur asked.

"Um, I don't-"

"Because I think that story would make a really good book."

Lovino smiled. It had become obvious that Arthur's pain medication had kicked in. "Really? You think so?"

"Yes, you could become the new… Oh, God, what's his name?" Arthur asked.

"Who?"

"The famous author, his last name starts with a 'K.'"

Lovino drew his eyebrows together. "Uh, Kevin?"

Arthur shook his head. "No, that doesn't sound right."

"Hm… King?" Lovino asked.

"Yes, Stephen King. You can become the new Stephen- no. You'll be better than Stephen King."

"Better than Stephen King?"

Arthur smiled. "Yes. People will be coming to you, wanting you to sing their copies of your books, then they'll pass the books down in their family so they can make millions off of it in a hundred years."

"So my books will be that famous-"

"Young women will scream your name and show you their breasts." Arthur added.

"Well, uh, that's quite the fantasy, Arthur." Lovino fought a hard laugh with each word he spoke.

"I'm sorry, Lovino. That sounded much better in my head when it was tainted with pain medication." Arthur replied.

"No, no, Arthur. It's okay." Lovino replied, chuckling.

Arthur chuckled, throwing him into a coughing fit that caused an increase in his heart rate. Arthur grunted in pain as the heart monitor slowed back down to the steady rhythm it was at moments ago.

Worry crossed Lovino's face, but Arthur didn't notice it, he was staring back forward at the open doorway. It seemed like he was actually looking at something, or looking for something.

"Who is that at the door?" Arthur asked, his voice weaker than it already was.

Lovino turned his head to see Francis standing in the open doorway, the light behind him much brighter than the dim ones in Arthur's room. Lovino looked back to Arthur. "It's Francis."

Excitement filled Arthur's tired eyes as a huge smile formed on his lips. "Francis?" Arthur asked. "Francis come… come here."

Francis slowly walked in, hesitating every few steps as if he was a dog who had gotten in trouble.

Arthur lifted his right hand, holding it out to Francis. "Come here."

Faster, Francis came to the side of the bed, opposite of Lovino, and gingerly grabbed Arthur's pale hand.

"How are you?" Arthur asked.

"How am I?" Francis exclaimed. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine! Worry about yourself, how are _you?_"

Arthur smiled. "Me? I'm much better than I was."

Francis nodded, not really believing what Arthur had said.

"Francis," Lovino heard Arthur whisper in a soft, calming tone. "I feel much better than I look."

A lie. Lovino knew that was a lie. Earlier Arthur told him how much he was truly hurting, but reassuring Francis seemed to be the objective of this conversation.

"Really?" Francis asked, believing Arthur.

Arthur nodded. "I am weak, but I _will_ get better."

Lovino saw Francis' gaze drop. "How do you know?"

"I'm too damn stubborn to die. You know that." Arthur smiled up at Francis. "And besides, I didn't live through all of that just to die in a hospital."

Francis let out a small, quiet laugh. "You're right. You're too stubborn." But even through Arthur's reassurance, Lovino could tell Francis was terrified.

"What's wrong, Francis?" Arthur asked.

Francis shook his head, fighting tears. "Nothing, Arthur. I'm fine."

_Perhaps I should leave,_ Lovino thought. But despite his thoughts, he remained seated.

Arthur tilted his head to the side. "Then why does it look like my little frog is going to cry?"

"I'm not going to cry, Arthur."

"Come here, Francis." Lovino heard Arthur whisper, his voice growing even quieter than before.

"I'm right here." Francis stated.

Arthur shook his head. "No, down here."

"What?"

Arthur lifted his hands up to Francis in what Lovino guessed was a hugging motion. "Come here." Arthur demanded.

Slowly, Francis lowered himself down and hugged Arthur.

"See, Francis? I'm okay. I'm right here. I'm okay. I won't go anywhere, love. I promise."

Francis buried his face into Arthur's shirt and began to sob. "I thought you were dead!" Francis cried.

Lovino stood and excused himself silently. It's not that he didn't like Arthur or Francis, it's just that the scene was getting a little awkward, and he really should let them have some alone time. Arthur was missing for a month and a half and Francis thought he was dead.

Lovino walked through the halls at a slower pace than earlier. Now on the main floor, Lovino strode to the waiting room and started towards the secretary to ask where Toris' room was.

"So how did you break your fingers?" A familiar voice asked.

Lovino looked over to see Arthur's doctor sitting across the table from Alfred and Matthew.

"Oh, someone was picking on Al, then punched me in the nose, so I punched him in the face and broke them." Matthew lied.

"Wow!" The doctor exclaimed. "That's a hard punch!" The doctor looked to Alfred. "You know you have a good brother when they'll break their hand on someone's face for you."

"Yeah, I know!" Alfred replied. "Mattie is the best."

Lovino smiled at them, then went to continue towards the clerk at the front desk.

"Oh, hi, Lovino." Matthew greeted sweetly.

Lovino turned back and smiled. "Hello, Matthew."

The brown haired doctor, who had his back to him, turned around in his chair to face Lovino, and gave him another bright smile. He looked to Matthew. "You know him?"

"Yeah, he's a friend of the family." Matthew lied. Apparently Francis had told them not to talk about the whole kidnapped thing.

"Hello." Lovino greeted, trying not to look awkward... This man was very attractive.

"Hola. I am Doctor Carriedo. It is nice to meet you, Lovino."

Lovino nodded. "It's nice to meet you too, doctor."

Carriedo glanced down at his watch, then jumped up to his feet. "Wow, I really lost track of time! I'm sorry to be running off like this, Lovino, but I really need to go!"

Lovino shook his head. "No, no. It's okay, doctor. You have duties."

Carriedo stopped in his tracks, mumbling under his breath. "Mr. Kirkland wanted me to stay with his boys, but I really need to go…" Carriedo trailed off.

"Hey, I can watch over them for you, if you need to go that bad."

"Really?"

"Yes, I am a friend of the family. You're a doctor, go do your job."

"Gracias, Lovino." Doctor Carriedo gave Lovino a wink and a smile before jogging down the hall.

Lovino sat down in the seat that Doctor Carriedo had previously been sitting in. He looked down at the drawings that Matthew and Alfred were creating. "I really like those drawings." Lovino complemented. With each encounter with Matthew, he seemed to get better at working with children.

"Thank you." Matthew mumbled, continuing to draw what looked like a bear.

"Yeah, thanks... Lovino, right?" Alfred asked.

"Yes." Lovino answered.

"That's a weird name." Alfred commented.

"Well he's Italian." Matthew uttered.

Alfred jerked his head up, looking at Lovino with bright blue eyes. "Really? That's cool! No wonder your voice is weird!"

Lovino smiled at Alfred. "Yes. I was born in Italia." Lovino replied, exaggerating his accent.

"Oui, and I was born in France!" Francis chimed in, over exaggerating his accent.

Alfred and Matthew laughed hysterically for a moment. Lovino raised an eyebrow. "I can tell."

Francis chuckled. "Where did Arthur's doctor go?"

"Oh, Carriedo? He had to go, so I decided to watch them for you."

Francis smiled at Lovino. "Thank you, Lovino. For everything."

"Hey, I didn't find Arthur for you." Lovino replied, opening his hands. "But I will carry the message to my friend."

"Thank you." Francis turned and squatted down in front of Matthew and Alfred. "Matthew, Alfred." He said, getting their attention.

"Yes?" The twin boys asked simultaneously.

"Do you want to go and see Dad?" Francis questioned.

The boys eyes lit up in happiness and excitement. "Yes!" They exclaimed simultaneously.

Francis stood and turned to Lovino. "Thank you again for watching them for me while Doctor Carriedo couldn't."

Lovino shrugged. "Oh, it wasn't a problem."

"Alright. Well, I'm going to go take them to see Arthur. If I don't see you later, then I will give you a call sometime?"

"Sounds good." Lovino said, smiling.

Francis walked off with his twin sons, one on each side of him. Lovino stood, turned, and walked over to the secretary's desk.

.

"Damn, I forgot coffee." Lovino mumbled as he saw Feliks sipping on a cup of coffee. Lovino limped up, the pain in his hip worse than ever before, and sat in a chair opposite to Feliks.

Feliks swallowed his coffee. "Morning to you too, Lovino."

Lovino yawned. He hadn't slept well since the night he was captured, and it didn't help that he didn't sleep at all the past night; he was too busy driving to Colorado.

"_Labas rytas, Lovino._" Toris slurred in his native language of Lithuanian.

Lovino looked over at him with a raised eyebrow.

"He says good morning." Feliks translated.

"Good morning, Toris. I'm actually surprised you're awake." Lovino replied.

Toris replied with a moan then repositioned himself in his bed, and fell asleep quickly.

"He's only kind of awake. He still has anesthesia in him, which is why he can't remember how to speak in English, and is actually slurring his Lithuanian." Feliks explained. He took another sip of his coffee.

Lovino yawned again, closing his eyes tightly. "Makes a lot of sense." He murmured. Drowsiness had finally taken over, and he knew that he would have to get a hotel soon if he wanted to sleep. Driving all the way back home would be a really stupid idea, for he would fall asleep at the wheel.

"Oh, Lovi!" Feliks exclaimed.

"Don't call me 'Lovi'." Lovino hissed tiredly with his eyes closed.

"Whatever. Anyway, guess what! I have a surprise for you!"

Lovino opened his hazel eyes and yawned again. "What? What is it?"

Feliks quickly tossed a long, skinny, black object at Lovino.

Lovino caught it quickly, it almost hitting him in the face. He then realized that he was holding his cane. "What the?"

"Yeah," Feliks began casually, "police recovered it at the scene… Along with the Edelstein fortune and all of this other money."

"Oh thank God. My hip was killing me."

Feliks chuckled. "Old man." He teased.

Lovino gave him an angry glare.

"But," Feliks started with a smirk, "the police detached the knife from the wolf. They didn't want a wolf-knife in the hospital."

Lovino rolled his eyes. "I can get a new knife for it."

Feliks nodded awkwardly, and Lovino looked over to him. Lovino realized how tired, sad, and worried the man looked. His strange eyes were underlined with a dark shadow representing his tiredness. Feliks turned his head to Toris, and began to rub his right fingernails across the bandage on his cheek where Lovino guessed was where he had received his stitches. Lovino drew his eyebrows together as he remembered the strange phone call that Roderich had received when they were visiting Feliciano.

"Hey Feliks." Lovino said, gaining Feliks' attention.

"Hm?" He asked, turning his head back to Lovino.

"What was with that phone call?"

"I was letting you know what was going on, and where we were." Feliks replied like he was stating the obvious.

Lovino shook his head. "No, the call before that."

Feliks tilted his head, raising a thin, blonde eyebrow. "I only made one call to you."

"I know, but what about the one to Roderich?"

Feliks shook his head. "I never called Roderich."

Confusion crossed Lovino's face. "But…"

"What happened in the phone call. I'm half asleep right now, even with three cups of coffee in me." Feliks said.

"Well there wasn't any dialogue. Roderich heard this annoying tapping or clicking sound that he said kind of sounded like muffled shots from a gun." Lovino began.

Feliks' eyes widened, but he didn't interrupt.

"Then he heard muffled voices in either Lithuanian or Polish, or maybe both, he didn't know. And also he heard…" Lovino trailed off.

"Heard what?"

"A woman scream bloody murder like she was about to be stabbed or something." Lovino finished.

Realization crossed Feliks' face. "Oh…" He mumbled.

"What?" Lovino asked.

"I didn't call you… purposely. I might have accidentally called you."

"Who was screaming?" Lovino exclaimed.

"Me." Feliks replied proudly. "I was getting the attention of a police officer."

A smirk formed on Lovino's face. "You scream like a woman?" Lovino asked.

Feliks nodded. "Yes."

"You'd admit that?"

"With pride." Feliks said with a large smile, before breaking it with a long yawn that caused Lovino to yawn.

"I'll be sure to let the others know."

"Go ahead." Feliks mumbled softly with his eyes closed.

Lovino stood, supporting himself on his recovered cane. "I think I'm going to get out of here for you. It doesn't look like you're going anywhere tonight, but you need sleep."

"Yeah, I'm not leaving tonight." Feliks uttered, his Polish accent getting thicker in his tiredness.

"I'm going to find a hotel where I can crash for the night." Lovino began. "Goodnight, Feliks. If Toris wakes, tell him I said goodnight."

"Alright." Feliks mumbled.

"See you later." Lovino said over his shoulder as he left the room, limping on his cane.


	16. Grief

Chapter 16

Grief

Roderich unlocked the door to his house, and stepped into it for the first time since he left to go save Lovino. Gilbert had been stubborn and forced him to stay at his house until everything was sorted out because Gilbert didn't believe Roderich should be alone, especially after the death of Elizabeva.

The happiest memories of Roderich and Elizabeva's time together washed over him right as he closed the front door behind him and turned on the lights. Roderich felt like breaking down and crying, but for some odd reason, he could not cry. Instead, he walked forward, pretending as if he wasn't seeing the memories play out like movies right in front of him.

He pretended not to see the "movie" of him and Elizabeva first walking into this house after their wedding. Roderich walked into the living room. He pretended not to see himself teach Elizabeva dances that she didn't know. Roderich walked up the stairs. He pretended not to see Elizabeva hanging up their wedding pictures on the wall. Roderich walked down the hall, stopping at the closed door of the piano room. Roderich dared to open it. He stared at the jet black piano with the pearl white keys as he remembered the first time Elizabeva ever asked him to play something. The memory hit him like a rock. There was no pretending he didn't "see" it. There was no forgetting it. He just stared forward, zoning out at the beautiful piano. The very piano that he played every day. The very piano that Elizabeva loved to hear him play. The very piano that he taught her how to play her favorite song. The song that she could never remember the name of. The song by _Ludwig Van Beethoven._

Roderich took slow and steady steps toward the large instrument, and gently sat down in the the black piano stool with a velvet red cushion. He didn't touch the keys, but only stared at them. He didn't want to play unless Elizabeva was there to hear it. He didn't want to play unless Elizabeva was there to read on her love seat that was behind him.

But he had to play her favorite song. No, he had to play _her_ song. The song that she could never remember the name of, but could always remember it's composer… That was her song. A song that Roderich would never call by it's actual name ever again, for it's name has been forgotten.

Roderich pressed down on each key with grace, making sure that he didn't miss a note, didn't miss a beat. Each sound had to be exactly how he played it for her. But as the song progressed, Roderich could feel warm tears roll down his face, but he still didn't mess up. His hands got shaky, but he hit each note perfectly.

The song ended. Roderich sat there blankly, his eyes still closed, his hands still on the keys. Without a sound, besides his own sniffling, Roderich stood, went to exit the room, but as he got to the doorway, he realized he couldn't leave. Not tonight. Instead, Roderich turned back around, walked across the room, laid on Elizabeva's loveseat and fell asleep... crying.


	17. Here He Comes

Chapter 17

Here He Comes

Roderich sat in a white chair, outside in the spring air. It had been six months since the death of Elizabeva, and now Toris and Feliks were getting married. The sun was setting in the distance, making the sky light up in shades of orange, pink and purple. The naturally light green shades of the grass turned dark beneath the dimming sky.

Toris stood at the altar, rubbing his hands together, nervously looking back in the direction that Feliks would be coming from. He was wearing a black suit with a red tie, a color that always seemed to be associated with Feliks, and a bright red corn poppy, the Polish national flower, and Feliks' favorite flower, sat in his chest pocket.

The piano began to play, reminding Roderich of his own wedding, and his pain. But this wasn't the time for grief, it was the time for celebration. Feliks came walking down the aisle, being lead by his father. Feliks was in a pure white dress with a long skirt that came down to his ankles, a white pearl necklace, and white sandals. The only color on him was his veil. His veil was a dark green, a color that always seemed to be associated with Toris.

Roderich looked to Toris, who for a moment had a complete look of surprise and embarrassment, but it turned into pure happiness. Everyone here seemed to be surprised at Feliks wearing the dress, and actually some people looked offended, but Toris looked almost as if he was relieved that Feliks was wearing it. But of course, that's who Feliks was.

As for Feliks, he walked down the aisle, pridefully wearing his dress. It was who he was. His father, who looked just as confused as everyone else, handed Feliks off to Toris, who held onto his hands firmly but gently.

As the priest spoke, Roderich noticed that they didn't lose eye contact. Feliks stared up at Toris with his strange green eyes and a smirk. Toris stared down at Feliks with his dark blue eyes and a peaceful smile on his lips.

"You may kiss the… Groom?" The priest said.

Gingerly, Toris lifted the green veil, not breaking eye contact, leaned down, and kissed Feliks. Everyone started to stand, clapping. They broke from the kiss and Roderich saw Feliks jump into the air, forcing Toris to catch him, and wrap his arms around Toris' neck.

Roderich watched as Toris began walking down the aisle, still holding Feliks. It took until he was close enough for Roderich to realize that he had tears of joy streaming down his face. Toris' bright smile lit up the dark sky as the sun disappeared behind the horizon. Feliks was smirking at Toris, his eyes filled with excitement. Feliks pulled Toris' head down to him, and gave him long kiss.

The reception was thrilling, and filled with a lot of dancing. Every time Roderich looked to the dance floor, he always saw Feliks dancing. Most of the time Toris was too, but it seemed that Feliks didn't stop at all. Roderich mingled with everyone else, holding long conversations about nothing, or exchanging awkward small talk. Luckily for Roderich, no one asked him to dance. Not that he wasn't in the mood, for the joyful atmosphere kept a slight smile on his face all night and made him laugh very easily, it's just he really didn't know anyone here.

"Hey, Rod! Like, come here for a sec." Feliks called.

Roderich turned to see Feliks standing with Toris and a couple other people, waving him over. Roderich turned back to the men and women he was mingling with. "Excuse me, my friend is calling me over." Roderich said, excusing himself. Roderich walked across the grass beneath the night sky, and over to Feliks. "Ja? What is it, Feliks?"

Feliks smiled. "Toris has some friends he wants you to meet."

"Really?" Roderich asked, turning his head to Toris.

"Yes," Toris started, "I would have called you over, but you were in a conversation with some others, so I decided to wait, but Feliks insisted on calling you over. Sorry about that."

"Oh, no, it's fine." Roderich chuckled. "Actually he saved me from awkward small talk."

Toris chuckled, the smile on his face that hadn't disappeared since he saw Feliks in his dress, getting even bigger. "Anyway, these are my best friends, practically my brothers, Eduard von Bock and Ravis Galante."

"It's nice to meet you." Roderich greeted with a nod.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Edelstein." Eduard replied.

"Oh, please," Roderich began, "just Roderich is fine."

Roderich ended up in a long conversation with Eduard and Ravis, the subjects changing every few minutes. Like always, the conversation started with the "How do you know the groom?". "How do you know the bride?", "What is your family like?", "What is your job?", and lastly, "Are you married?"

Roderich hated that last question, but he answered honestly, saying, "Oh, I'm a widower." and Ravis and Eduard replying with the expected "I'm so sorry". But like he has done every time the subject has come up, he shrugged it off and changed the subject.

"Hey, Roderich?" Feliks asked, nearing the end of the night.

"Hm?" Roderich replied.

"Want to dance? I'll let you lead."

Complete confusion and embarrassment crossed Roderich's face. "W-what?"

Feliks smiled. "I'm kidding."

"Oh." Roderich exhaled in relief. "No offense though."

"None taken." Feliks stated, staring off in the direction of Toris with an unreadable expression.

"Are you okay?" Roderich asked, tilting his head to the left side.

"No," Feliks started, "I was okay before I met Toris. Now I'm… wonderful…. More than." Feliks shook his head. "I don't know if words can describe how I feel, you know?"

Roderich nodded, feeling a slight stab of sadness in his chest. "Of course I do, Feliks."


	18. Epilogue

Epilogue

_Thirty-five Years Later…_

Roderich woke up at his usual time on a day like today, sitting up in his bed, his back aching from the movement, and even more so with standing. Roderich eventually descended the stairs of the same house he'd been living in for thirty-six years. He glanced at the wedding photos of him and Elizabeva that sat on his left side, then walked into the kitchen. He made some eggs for himself, and sat down at the table, eating the warm eggs by himself, in silence. Although his lack of an appetite, he managed to eat his breakfast quite quickly, before washing the dish, then ascending the stairs.

Here came the hard part. Not ascending the stairs, but what came after that.

Roderich walked into his room, running his fingers through his dark brown hair speckled with white from age. He placed his glasses on his face, turned to the closet and opened it slowly. Roderich stared at the old suit that hung in front of him. The blueish-purple color of the overcoat, and the white undershirt. Roderich grabbed it by the coat hanger, and placed it on the bed behind him. He tuned and pulled out the folded black pants, and placed them on the bed next to his suit.

After changing his clothes, Roderich left his room, and walked across the hall, to the room he entered only three times a year. The piano room.

Roderich walked over to the dusty black piano, and sat down gracefully in the velvet red seat, and stared at the dusty white keys that rested silently in front of him. Roderich would only enter this room three times a year, and it was only on specific dates. Elizabeva's birthday, their wedding anniversary, and Elizabeva's death date, which was today. He would only come in here for a specific reason. To play her song, the song that he forgot the name of the day of Elizabeva's death.

So he played with perfection, not missing a single beat, not hitting the wrong key, but playing it the exact way he's been playing it for thirty-five years. And, like always, the song ended, but the day wasn't over, not yet.

Roderich left his piano room, running his hand over the back of the soft loveseat that Elizabeva used to sit on when she'd listen to his music, then descended the stairs again, and left the house, grabbing his keys from off the counter.

Roderich drove on the road, stopping at the red light, stopping at the stop sign, stopping at the four way stop where Feliciano got in his car crash. Roderich slowed his car before turning on his signal, and turning right. He slowed as he drove on the gravel road of the cemetery, and eventually stopping about two rows down where Elizabeva laid.

Roderich walked up slowly, holding onto the bouquet of Hungarian Crocus' gingerly. Roderich stopped in front of his late wife and stared down at the gravestone.

_Elizabeva Héderváry_

_1993-2014_

_Here Lies a Strong, Loving Wife._

_That Will Be Missed Forever_

Roderich kneeled down in front of the gravestone, still staring at the letters engraved, still reading it inside in mind. Roderich set the bouquet of flowers on the ground, and brought up his left hand, placing it on the warm stone.

Roderich couldn't help but cry. Warm tears rolled down his cheeks, dropped off of his chin, and landed in the grassy dirt below him. Roderich leaned forward, placing his forehead on the stone, crying more. He began running his left index finger across the letters of her name, while he pet the soft petals of the Hungarian Crocus' with his right thumb.

Roderich was sobbing now, closing his eyes tightly, his chest filled with that familiar sadness he felt three times a year. "Why did it have to be you?" Roderich mumbled, asking the same question he asks three times a year.

Roderich sobbed harder as he whispered the same words he whispers three times a year. "_Sollen wir tanzen?_"

* * *

This story will have a FACE Family parallel.


	19. ANNOUNCEMENT

Hey, guys! This story is over, but if you are interested, I am making a FACE Family parallel to this story. I've just now started uploading it.


End file.
